Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn Technology plans to make long-term investments in India, giving a fillip to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative.
The company is in discussions with the Gujarat-based Adani Group and other domestic firms to establish manufacturing plants in the country.
"We are very encouraged to invest in India but a decision is not final yet," said Foxconn chairman and CEO Terry Gou, who is on an India visit for the second time in less than two months.
Gou, who met PM Modi on Tuesday, said the company is "very interested" in many government programmes including Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Clean India.
"We don't want to be just manufacturers or assemblers but we want to get the whole supply chain... We are looking at long term hi-tech investment.... from a five to 10 year view," The Indian Express quoted Gou as saying.
During his earlier visit, the chairman had said the company was planning to create minimum one million jobs in India by establishing 10-12 manufacturing units in the country by 2020.
According to the Economic Times,. the investment funnelled out over the next five years will be around 2 billion (Rs 12,800 crore).
Currently, Foxconn manufactures iPhones and iPads for Apple and Kindle e-book readers for Amazon Inc, besides making electronic equipment for top global tech firms such as Cisco, Dell, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.
Gou said Foxconn is looking to partner with billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani Group to set up electronics manufacturing units in the country.
"We will be working very closely with them," he said, without giving any details on a "possible deal" with Adani.
He also said the company is in talks with local tech companies including Micromax and Snapdeal.
Gou also confirmed Foxconn's investment in the country's second largest e-commerce firm Snapdeal, without giving any details on the transaction, Livemint reported.
A Bloomberg report on Monday said that Snapdeal is in plans to raise nearly $500 million, with Chinese Alibaba Group and Foxconn as the main investors.
Without mentioning the exact locations, Gou said the company is evaluating states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra to set up manufacturing facilities.
He highlighted "logistics, supply chain, supply risk, infrastructure, particularly power, carbon emissions and land acquisition" as some of the concerns for the company to set up "manufacturing and exporting facilities in India."
