Tech enthusiasts line up as CEO Tim Cook inaugurates India’s first Apple store in Mumbai

Consumer technology company Apple's first retail store in the country became operational on Tuesday with chief executive Tim Cook opening its doors for customers. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

Amid loud cheering, Cook emerged from inside the shop to open the doors and personally welcomed guests. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

Long queues of Apple fans lined up to be the first ones in what is expected to be a massive two-storey retail space housed inside the plush Jio World Drive Mall in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

The Mumbai store puts Apple on an ambitious drive in India, where the demand for its signature iPhone has finally picked up. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

The design of the store put more emphasis on the Apple store as a public space or “town square” as the company likes to say. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

Catering to a diverse country such as India, the Apple BKC store is staffed by a team of 100, that speak 20 languages between them. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

The tech giant will follow this up with another store in Delhi’s Saket on April 20. (Express Photo by Anuj Bhatia)

Apple could not open a store in India earlier because of regulatory restrictions around single-brand retail. (Express Photo by Pradip Das)