India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed on the 13th that he will meet Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg for a Townhall Q&A at the social media giant's headquarters at Menlo Park, California, on September 27./ Photo: PM Modi's official Facebook

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - It has been revealed on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Apple CEO Tim Cook and try to persuade Apple to invest in India when he visits the US later this month.

According to Indian media outlets including Times of India (TOI) on Wednesday, Apple is believed to be looking to invest in building manufacture capacities in India, which could come as a major boost for Modi's 'Make in India' project.

During his US visit, Modi will meet CEOs specializing in IT, finance, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and media sectors to explain his performance since he took office in May 2014 and his government's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' campaigns while trying to persuade them to invest in India.

According to the Indian Prime Minister's Office and Apple, the topic of discussion between Modi and Cook is not decided yet. Indian media outlets reported that PM Modi, who is known to be a iPhone 6 user, will try to persuade Apple to invest in manufacturing and research and development (R&D) in India.

Apple hasn't been an active investor to the Indian market initially. However, the company became interested in the Indian market as iPhone sales rose 93% in the April-June quarter, surpassing China's growth rate of 87% for the first time.

Indian IT experts say that Apple wants to explore R&D activities in India to begin with and also understand foreign direct investment regulations in retail so that it can explore future possibilities to set up its flagship company-owned stores.

PM Modi will also meet Facebook Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google's top honchos Eric Schmidt and Sundar Pichai, and Adobe Systems Inc CEO Shantanu Narayen. CEOs Pichai and Narayen are of Indian origin.

Modi is also scheduled to meet electric car maker Tesla's CEO Elon Musk to discuss renewable energy policy and more. He is also scheduled to attend a 100-guest dinner - with CEOs from companies specializing in infrastructure and manufacturing, hosted by Time Inc. Meanwhile, JP Morgan will be hosting a meeting for 15 CEOs specializing in the financial sector with Modi. Modi is also expected to meet News Corp's Rupert Murdoch and other media officials to discuss media policies.