Electronics & IT Minister Vaishnaw backs Foxconn’s plan to double investment in India

New Delhi, Sep 18

Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the government was "fully committed" to support Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn's ambitious plans to double its manufacturing capacity in India.

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, is looking at India to set up an alternative supply chain outside China.

"Fully committed to support and facilitate," Vaishnaw said on X in response to Foxconn India representative V Lee's LinkedIn post to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 73rd birthday in which he said the company was “aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI (foreign direct investment), and business size in India” by this time next year.

Foxconn is the main assembler of Apple iPhones and both companies are keen to move away from China and create alternative supply chains.

The Communist giant stands alienated due to its military muscle-flexing in the South China Sea and dubious role in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic that destroyed lives and livelihoods across the world.

Foxconn already has an iPhone factory in Tamil Nadu, which employs 40,000 people and has signed an agreement to invest Rs 1,600 crore in a new electronics components unit in the state that will create 6,000 jobs.

The company has also announced that it will be investing an additional Rs 3,300 crore in its manufacturing facility in Telangana. This will take the total investment of the company in the state to more than Rs 4,550 crore.

The upcoming unit, being set up by Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd (FIT), will manufacture Apple accessories and is located at Kongara Kalan on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Besides, the company had also announced in August that it would invest Rs.5,000 crore ($600 million) in Karnataka for two projects in the state to make casing components for iPhones and for chip-making equipment.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu had visited India recently to attend the SemiconIndia 2023 event hosted for global semiconductor companies that was inaugurated by Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar recently.

Speaking at the event, the Foxconn chairman said, "I can feel the determination of the Indian government. I am very optimistic about where it's headed."

He highlighted the Buffalo Spirit of the Taiwan semiconductor industry, which is the ability to work hard without complaining and said that the same spirit could be applied to India.