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Apple Supplier Foxconn will partner with Applied Materials for the chip-making tools project
Foxconn, a Taiwan-based key Apple supplier, will invest $600 million in two projects in Karnataka to make casing components for iPhones and chip-making equipment, signaling its growing interest in the South Asian nation as it spreads bets beyond China, the southern Indian state said Wednesday.
The company plans to invest Rs. 1,600 crore ($194.45 million) to build a campus in Kancheepuram district, near the state's capital of Chennai. Foxconn said it would invest about $350 million in setting up a plant in the state for manufacturing iPhone case components and about $250 million on a project for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It is also targeting India or Thailand to produce a small battery-powered car under development, the unit's chief executive said Tuesday.
Some $350 million will go towards setting up the iPhone component facility, generating 12,000 jobs. The Karnataka state said that Foxconn will tie up with Applied Materials (AMAT.O) in a $250 million project to make chip-making tools.
Reuters was the first to report the investment plans on Wednesday. The state government said both projects were signed via letters of intent, meaning final modalities could change. Foxconn, which assembles around 70% of iPhones and is the world's largest contract manufacturer, has been diversifying production away from China amid COVID disruptions and geopolitical tensions.
“The industrial and investment policies of the state government are conducive to nurturing an ecosystem favoring the growth of industries. In a statement, the talks held with the company chairman were fruitful,” said MB Patil, Karnataka Minister of Infrastructure Development.
The investment decisions follow a meeting between Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, Karnataka's IT Minister Priyank Kharge, and Industries Minister MB Patil. "We are excited about the possibilities that Karnataka offers for our expansion plans in India," Liu said.
Foxconn's expansion in India is also the latest in a string of foreign companies - from Micron to Amazon - expanding and committing billions of dollars worth of investment in the coming years, placing a bet on growing consumption and demand in the world's most-populous nation.
Last month, top executives from Foxconn and semiconductor firms Micron and AMD attended a conference in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, as part of the government's push to lure investments into India's nascent chip industry. India's Tamil Nadu state has also announced that Foxconn will invest $194 million in new electronic components manufacturing facility to create 6,000 jobs.