Apple demanded that it be exempt from the law which requires 30 per cent of the store be made in India under an exemption for "cutting edge" technology.

However officials looking at Apple's exemption application said that the fruity cargo cult did not explain how its technology was cutting edge or inovative.  It appears that the reality distortion field meant that Apple employees filling in the form really believed that their products were cutting edge and inovative and it needed no explaination.

Indian officials said that they investigated the form very carefully and reached the conclusion that Apple gear did not qualify for the exemption based on being inovative or cutting edge. Like most Chinese-based outfits, the fruity cargo cult that it must meet a rule obliging foreign retailers to sell at least 30 percent locally-sourced goods.

This has poured cold water on Apple’s plans to use the Apple Stores as a base to rapidly convert the Indians away from their gods and to something more consumer orientated. India’s smartphone market is still growing, while the rest of the world is losing interest.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last Saturday. The trip was supposed set the stage for Apple's expansion plans. Does not look like that worked.