Indian Finance Ministry has rejected Apple's request to relax some norms to allow it to open official Apple Stores in the country. This is because the company won't be complying with a pre-condition for setting up single-brand retail stores in the country, which mandates that 30 percent of the products should be sourced locally. Apple cannot meet this requisite as most of its products are made in China. The finance ministry has opposed the request of Apple citing that it goes against the government's Make in India policy.

The company had sought exemption from the local sourcing norms as the US-based giant makes state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology products for which local sourcing is not possible.

It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors.

Single-brand retailers are also allowed to take e-commerce route for such trading. At present, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the sector.

Apple have pitched high hopes on India, due to its fast growing market. The company had opened a development office in Hyderabad earlier this year, with 150 employees, plus contractors, working on Apple Maps.

During Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent visit to India he had announced another facility in Bangalore, to be called a Design and Development Accelerator, aimed at supporting the large iOS development community in the country.