Commentary: Tata data leak a setback for ‘Make in India’ ambitions, but it’s not a verdict - CNA

The Tata data breach is a reminder that qualities such as cybersecurity, are now as much a part of manufacturing competitiveness as infrastructure and labour costs, says University of Delhi’s Aasheerwad Dwivedi.

FILE PHOTO: Vehicles pass through the security check at the entrance of Tata Electronics Plant in southern India which makes Apple AAPL.O iPhone component in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India, September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Haripriya Suresh/File Photo

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Aasheerwad Dwivedi 22 Sep 2026 06:00AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST NEW DELHI: A recent cybersecurity breach at Tata Electronics has provided fresh ammunition to critics of India’s manufacturing ambitions.

Hackers claimed to have obtained hundreds of gigabytes of data from the company, including documents linked to Apple’s latest iPhone 18 Pro, as well as other customers such as Tesla, Qualcomm and TSMC. Tata confirmed in June it had suffered a “cybersecurity incident”, although it maintained its operations remained unaffected.

The breach is a setback for Tata Electronics, which is emerging as one of Apple's most important manufacturing partners outside China. It also, according to some observers, threatens to tarnish the government’s decade-long push to make India a manufacturing powerhouse.