Chennai: Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the government was “fully committed” to Foxconn‘s ambitious plans of expanding its manufacturing footprint in the country.
“Fully committed to support and facilitate,” Vaishnaw said on X, formerly Twitter and quoted the Foxconn India representative V Lee’s LinkedIn post on Sunday where he had wished Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of his 73rd birthday and said the Taiwanese contract manufacturer was “aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI (foreign direct investment), and business size in India” by this time next year. However, Lee did not divulge any further details.
Foxconn which is the maker of the iconic iPhone and the world’s largest contract manufacturer already has a sizeable presence in Tamil Nadu where its factory employs over 40,000 people.
In fact, on September 7, ET had reported that Lee had confirmed that the company was evaluating a clutch of states, including Tamil Nadu where the Taiwanese contract manufacturer has mature operations for its EV ambitions.
“In our last earnings call, Chairman Liu had said the company will expand its diversified strategy including in the states of Karnataka and Telangana aside from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,” Lee had told ET at the time. “He said that our key components in India will first and foremost, be to do with consumer electronics. However, next year, he said there will also be EV key components in India.”
In fact, ET too had reported that in its annual report published on May 31, Foxconn said that India will assist with the establishment of a production line this year to provide two-wheeled electric vehicle manufacturing services that will cater to the EV two-wheeler market in Southeast Asia.
Hon Hai (Foxconn) entered India in 2005. Liu said it presently operates around nine campuses with a total size of more than the equivalent of 500 football fields. The company has over 30 factories in India that reportedly turn over roughly US$10 billion annually.
“Foxconn’s annual revenue was more than 200 billion USD,” Chairman Young Liu had said on their latest earnings call. “From the perspective of India’s potential market size, and if we can fully implement our plans there, I think several billion dollars in investment is only the beginning.”
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer which is best known for being the assembler of the iconic iPhone has been in the news consistently off-late due to their accelerated and aggressive investments in the country across states.
FIT Hon Teng’s (Foxconn) board approved a $400-million investment in Telangana, Foxconn India representative V Lee said in a LinkedIn post on August 12. This is in addition to an earlier commitment of $150 million Foxconn had made in the state.
Foxconn Interconnect Technology laid the foundation for a new electronics manufacturing facility in Telangana in May, as part of its investment plans in the region. The proposed electronics manufacturing facility, located near Kongara Kalan, is set to serve as a hub for the company’s activity in Telangana.
On July 31, Foxconn signed a memorandum of understanding with Guidance Tamil Nadu to establish a manufacturing facility in Kancheepuram district for electronic components, with a proposed investment of Rs 1,600 crore, expected to create 6,000 jobs. Just a day after this announcement was made, Foxconn said it would invest $600 million in Karnataka for two manufacturing projects.
