Foxconn to double FDI, workforce in India by 2024

Apple iPhone supplier Foxconn plans to double employment, foreign direct investment (FDI), and business size in India by 2024, according to the company's India representative V Lee.

Lee disclosed these plans in a LinkedIn post while wishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday. "Under your leadership, Foxconn has grown smoothly and rapidly in India. We will work even harder to present you with a greater birthday gift next year, aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI, and business size in India," the post read.

This comes weeks after Hon Hai Technology Group chairman Young Liu said that since Foxconn entered India in 2005, its revenue, number of employees, and investment scale have grown exponentially. "In addition to existing operations in the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states, Hon Hai will also deploy in Karnataka, Telangana and other states," Liu said in the company's second-quarter earnings report.

Through close cooperation with central and local governments, Hon Hai plans to establish industrial parks and optimise the business environment in terms of infrastructure, policies and laws, said Liu. "At present, it is mainly engaged in the ICT final assembly business. Going forward, Hon Hai will actively deploy work in the area of key components to raise its competitiveness in India," he added.

In May, Foxconn's India subsidiary acquired a 300-acre land parcel on the outskirts of India's tech capital Bengaluru to ramp up production of iPhones. The Karnataka government had earlier approved ₹8,000-crore proposal by the Taiwanese electronics giant to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit near Bengaluru.

Two other Taiwanese companies, Wistron and Pegatron, assemble Apple iPhones in India. Wistron manufactures Apple devices at its Hosur facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.

Foxconn parted ways with mining giant Vedanta earlier this year after forming a semiconductor joint venture last year. The company is now working toward submitting an application related to the government's Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem.

"There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough, there were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project," the company said.

"When Foxconn course corrects, it is done only after heavy considerations on the near-term impact to our stakeholders, and on the long-term corporate health to the Group and our shareholders," it added.

The company said building fabs from scratch in a new geography is a challenge, but Foxconn is committed to investing in India. "We have been working on challenges like this since the 1980s. Foxconn has no intention to do anything but continue to strongly support the government’s “Make In India” ambitions and establish a diversity of local partnerships that meet the needs of stakeholders," it said.