Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, which recently announced that it would set up around 10 to 12 manufacturing units in India, is planning to tie up with Gujarat-based Adani Group to start at least four electronics manufacturing plants in the country.
Earlier this month, senior executives of Apple iPhone assembler Foxconn toured a few states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat to scout for sites suitable for manufacturing units, The Times of India reported.
Vincent Tong Wen-Hsin, chairman and director of investments at Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) Mobile, and CEO of the company Calvin Chih reportedly held extensive talks with the Karnataka government.
"It could become a $5-billion investment. They visited some other states too. We are hoping that Karnataka's talent pool and fiscal incentives would make them decide to locate a facility here," said a Karnataka government official.
Earlier, Foxconn had said it would set up 10 to 12 manufacturing units in India by 2020. The electronics contract manufacturer seems to be in discussions with its top client Apple on the proposed investments in India.
"A lot of our customers, especially Chinese customers, need us to manufacture ... in India, to make phones, tablets, TVs, as soon as possible," Foxconn group chairman Terry Gou told Reuters in May.
Each facility is expected to employ at least 10,000 people and the company plans to invest about $2 billion (₹12,700 crore) towards setting up these facilities over the next five years, The Economic Times reported.
"We are talking to Foxconn almost every week to get them to Karnataka. Under our mega projects policy, we can tailor-make incentives for them," a Karnataka government official said.
The Taiwanese tech giant has reportedly started its operations at a leased facility in Sri City, located in southern part of Andhra Pradesh. The plant is expected to produce 10,000 phones per day for Chinese handset vendo Xiaomi Corp.
