Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron Corp. will likely start making iPhone 6 and 6S models here in the next four-to-six weeks at its plant in Bangalore, said an official of the southern state of Karnataka where the tech hub is located. It will add Apple's cheapest iPhone model, the SE, to its assembly line in about three months, the official said.

"Almost all preparations have been done for launching Apple's first phase project in Bangalore through Wistron," the official told The Wall Street Journal.

"We've been working hard to develop our operations in India," an Apple spokeswoman said, declining to comment on the company's specific plans for India. "We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we've had with government about further expanding our local operations." A Wistron spokeswoman said the company doesn't comment on "rumor or speculation."

With sales cooling in China, long an engine for Apple's growth, manufacturing iPhones locally would help Apple address what analysts say is its biggest problem in India: its smartphones are simply too expensive for the vast majority of people.

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