Source: Thomas Peter | Reuters
Foxconnone of Apple’s largest suppliers and a major maker of iPhone components will invest about $700 million to build a new factory in the Indian state of Karnataka, Bloomberg reported Friday. The report comes as US companies continue to reassess their reliance on China in the wake of rising tensions between the US and the Chinese government.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said Foxconn will build an iPhone component factory on a 300-acre site near Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore, is the capital of the state of Karnataka, which is located on the southwest coast of India and has one of the highest per capita GDP levels of any Indian state.
Government officials confirmed Bloomberg’s reporting on Friday, writing that the new plant would create 100,000 jobs. The effort will be one of the largest investments by Foxconn in India, Bloomberg reported.
Bengaluru in particular is considered one of the leading engineering and technology hubs in India.
Foxconn and technology suppliers more broadly have looked to diversify outside China, which has been a traditional hub for manufacturing, in the wake of devastating Covid shutdowns and manufacturing slowdowns. These lockouts prompted widespread national dissent and videos of Foxconn employees fleeing the company’s iPhone manufacturing facility spread widely on Western social media.
India and Vietnam have emerged as top contenders to replace China’s dominance in manufacturing and supply. CNBC has previously reported on comments by Indian government officials who claimed that Apple was trying to increase production in India to account for 25% of their total output. Foxconn already has a presence in India through a factory near Chennai in eastern India.
