India is apparently a country so rich that it can afford to give cash-rich American companies pot loads of money and sweeteners and Apple has said that it will set up a unit to assemble its iPhones in the country if the government helps out.

Ramesh Abhishek, the top bureaucrat in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, confirmed that the Indian government was considering Apple’s request. Apple has not really come up with any new products for three years and is running out of ideas about how it can keep its iPhone cash cow going. It really needs the large Indian market after Chinese shoppers rejected it. If it can squeeze a bit of government money to help it do that we guess it will help, but we can't see how that is good for India.

Apple has asked federal government officials for a range of tax and policy changes to help build out its iPhone assembly work in India.

It is seeking permission to open its own retail stores in India where it currently sells iPhones through resellers.

India has given Chinese smartphone maker Oppo the go-ahead to open its own single-brand retail stores, boding well for rivals like Apple, which are seeking similar approvals.

The difference, of course, is that the likes of Oppo can provide products Indians can afford, while Apple is going to provide products that only the very rich can buy.