BENGALURU (Reuters) - Japanese electronic parts maker TDK Corp (6762.T) will manufacture lithium ion (li-ion) battery cells for Apple (AAPL.O) iPhones in India, a minister said on Monday.

Apple has been touting India as its next big growth driver as it looks to move some production away from China.

It began assembling iPhones in the country in 2017 through Wistron (3231.TW) and later Foxconn (2317.TW), and has a total of 14 suppliers in India.

TDK will set up a manufacturing facility in the northern state of Haryana, creating several thousand new jobs, Deputy Minister for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The news was first reported by Business Standard on Sunday.

Cells manufactured at the facility will be supplied to Apple's li-ion battery assembler Sunwoda Electronics, the report added.

Apple and TDK Corp did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.