Source: Thomas Peter | Reuters
Foxconnone of apple’Bloomberg reported on Friday that the largest supplier and major manufacturer of iPhone components is investing about $700 million in the construction of a new plant in the Indian state of Karnataka. The report comes as U.S. companies continue to reassess their reliance on China amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said Foxconn will build a factory to make iPhone components on a 300-acre site near Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport. Bangalore, also known as Bengaluru, is the capital of the state of Karnataka, which is located on the southwest coast of India and has one of the highest levels of GDP per capita of any Indian state.
Government officials confirmed the Bloomberg report on Friday, saying the new plant would create 100,000 jobs. The effort will be one of Foxconn’s biggest investments in India, according to Bloomberg.
In particular, Bengaluru is considered one of the leading engineering and technology centers of India.
Foxconn and technology suppliers more broadly have sought to diversify beyond China, which has been a traditional manufacturing hub since the devastating Covid lockdowns and production slowdown. The lockdowns have sparked widespread national dissent, and videos of Foxconn workers fleeing the company’s iPhone factory have gone viral on Western social media.
India and Vietnam have become the main contenders to supplant China’s dominance in the sphere of production and supply. CNBC previously reported comments from Indian government officials who claimed that Apple was aiming to increase production in India to 25% of total production. Foxconn already maintains a presence in India through a factory located near Chennai in eastern India.
Read more at Bloomberg.
