Recently, according to Bloomberg News, Foxconn plans to invest nearly 500 million US dollars in India to build two parts factories to maintain the diversification of its supply chain. At the same time, the company is also lobbying officials in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, hoping to adjust and relax labor law restrictions.
At least one of Foxconn's planned factories in Karnataka will produce components for Apple products such as iPhones, according to people familiar with the matter. The site selection and landing plans are expected to be officially announced this week.
Local authorities in Karnataka state have announced approval for Foxconn to develop a factory in the region, saying it is expected to create 50,000 jobs. Indian officials and Foxconn have yet to comment on the anticipated plans for the two factories. Foxconn's first new factory in Karnataka will begin production in April 2024, according to a timetable approved by the Indian government.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that Foxconn's investment in India has continued to increase. In March of this year, foreign media reported that Foxconn had obtained an OEM order for AirPods from Apple and decided to accept the order to strengthen cooperation with Apple. In May of this year, the IT Minister of Telangana State in India announced that Foxconn's factory in the state had started construction, with a total investment of more than US$500 million.
However, Foxconn's plan to build a semiconductor electronic component factory in India has been shelved, and the instability of India's investment environment has always been one of the challenges for the company's investment landing. Therefore, the specific implementation of Foxconn's other investments still needs to be further confirmed.
Overall, Foxconn's plan to build two parts factories in India is to increase its diversification in the supply chain and further strengthen its partnership with Apple. As Apple plans to transfer part of its production capacity to India, the share of Indian factories manufacturing iPhones is also gradually increasing. In the future, Foxconn may continue to set up factories in India to participate in the production of more Apple products.