Apple Inc. partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to invest about US$700 million (S$942 billion) in a new plant in India to ramp up local production, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
As per the report, the company planned to make iPhone parts at the new 300-acre site in Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka.
The factory is expected to assemble iPhone handsets and also produce some parts for Foxconn’s nascent electric vehicle business.
According to sources, the plans could still change as Foxconn is in the process of finalising investment and project details. It remains unclear if the plant represents new capacity or production that Foxconn is shifting from other facilities.
However, the investment is believed to be one of Foxconn's largest investments in India, underscoring an accelerating shift of manufacturing away from China amid Washington-Beijing tension.
As per analysts Steven Tseng and Sean Chen, the plan may herald an accelerated relocation from China and once completed, the factory could materially improve the component suppliers in India.
India reportedly offered incentives to Foxconn and other Apple suppliers in December last year. Chairman and CEO of Foxconn, Young Liu, recently inaugurated T-Works, India's most significant hardware prototyping centre in Telangana's Hyderabad.
Liu, who is currently on a trip to India, also met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma to discuss various ambitions for India to achieve US$300 billion in electronics manufacturing and semiconductors by 2026.
