Following a trip to India by Foxconn's chairman Young Liu, Foxconn reaffirmed its commitment to Indian investments, which may include new factories and a foray into new areas, such as semiconductors and EVs, and boost India's role in global electronics manufacturing.
According to The Economic Times and Bloomberg, Liu sent separate letters to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, saying Foxconn would work toward the successful grounding of the manufacturing site project without guaranteeing a plant will be constructed in Karnataka.
Liu's India visit sparked reports and rumors about Foxconn's new plant in Telangana, a potential US$700-million plant dubbed 'Project Elephant' in Karnataka, and expansion of the plant in Tamil Nadu to increase iPhone production capacity in the state from 6 million to 20 million units in two years. Still, Foxconn said in a statement over the weekend that there was no binding agreement for new investments in India, leading to confusion as to whether Foxconn would build more plants in India to diversify away from its reliance on China. The separate letters showed Foxconn's strong interests, although it has not made a final decision.
According to The Economic Times, Liu was impressed with the cargo handling efficiency at the Bengaluru airport, as the world's largest electronics manufacturer relies on air freight for multiple products.
In recent years, Foxconn has forayed into EVs and semiconductors through a series of moves, including forming MIH, buying Macronix International, and inviting chip veteran Chiang Shang-yi as Foxconn's chief strategy officer for semiconductors. Foxconn aims to build India as the next production base for mobile phones, semiconductors, and EVs. Foxconn has partnered with Vedanta for a wafer fab project in Gujarat, which is expected to be approved by the Indian government, and Liu once said in 2021 that Foxconn planned to set up an EV production plant in India. According to UDN, Jun Seki, Foxconn's chief strategy officer for EVs, also went to India with Liu.
Reuters quoted Liu's statement over the weekend saying that Foxconn seeks cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and EVs.
