Foxconn’s investment will create 25,000 direct jobs in the state.
Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer and major supplier of Apple products Foxconn will invest $500 million in the southern Indian state of Telangana, the state’s IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao said on Monday. The investment will create 25,000 direct jobs in its first phase, he added.
“Demonstrating the “Telangana Speed”, I am happy to announce the groundbreaking of first of Foxconn’s plants in Telangana at Kongar Kalaan today,” the minister tweeted. “With an investment of over $500M it shall create 25,000 direct jobs in first Phase.”
The move underscores Apple’s shift from manufacturing in China where the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy disrupted the manufacturing of iPhones and other products. The move is also a part of Apple’s broader strategy to diversify its supply chain and reduce dependence on China due to trade tensions between the United States and China, as well as the goal of tapping into the Indian market.
In February, chief minister of Karnataka Basavaraj S Bommai said that the state is in talks with Foxconn over investment plans. Apart from the two states, Foxconn also has its units in two other Indian states – Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – where it mainly manufactures products from Apple, Amazon, etc. According to a Reuters report last month, the Taiwanese company had won an order to make AirPods for Apple and planned to build a factory in the country to manufacture the products.
According to a Bloomberg report last month, Apple assembled over $7 billion of iPhones in the country in the previous fiscal year 2022-23, an output increase of around three times. The Tim Cook-led company now manufactures almost 7% of its iPhones in India which are manufactured by the company’s partners like Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp. It is a significant rise from the estimated 1% of the world’s iPhones in 2021.
Last month, Apple chief executive Tim Cook inaugurated two of the company’s retail stores in India. Apple opened its first outlet in Mumbai, followed by Apple Saket, the company’s second physical store in India’s national capital Delhi. During his visit, Cook also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi where he committed to the country’s growth and investment.
