Apple will establish a “Design and Development Accelerator” in Bengaluru, described as “the home of India’s startup scene”, to support engineering talent and accelerate growth in the country’s iOS developer community.

The programme will provide specialised support for the “tens of thousands of developers in India” who make apps for iOS.

Apple’s team will teach them about best practices, helping them “hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform”.

Each week, Apple experts will lead briefings and provide one-on-one app reviews for developers. The facility will also provide support and guidance on Swift, Apple’s programming language.

“India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

“With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world,” he added.

Cook is currently in India where he will reportedly meet the president, as the iPhone maker faces difficulties in the country, where it has no branded retail stores and sells its devices through third-party resellers.

Earlier in the month Indian authorities rejected Apple’s requests to sell used iPhones in India.

The accelerator is expected to open in early 2017.