Foxconn to Invest Over $1.5 Billion in India; Sent Chinese Engineers to Train Workers This Year: Reports

Foxconn's muti-crore investment in India will reportedly be made via its Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development subsidiary in the country.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 29 November 2023 14:29 IST

Foxconn to Invest Over $1.5 Billion in India; Sent Chinese Engineers to Train Workers This Year: Reports

Apple's newest iPhone 15 (pictured) is manufactured by Foxconn in India

Highlights

Foxconn plans to invest in India to fulfil 'operational needs'
The investment will be made via Foxconn's subsidiary in India
Foxconn to compete with Tata Group after the latter's Wistron takeover

Apple supplier Foxconn will invest over $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,500 crore) in India as the company looks to expand production of Apple's iPhone in the country, according to a report. The move comes a year after the Taiwanese firm's factories in China were negatively impacted by the country's strict COVID-19 restrictions in 2022. The company also reportedly flew Chinese engineers to India in order to train workers at its factory to improve efficiency earlier this year.

CNBC reports that Foxconn will invest more than $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,500 crore) to be budgeted for a "construction project to fulfil operational needs" of the company in the country, according to security filings. The multi-crore investment will be made via its subsidiary Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, as per the report.

Foxconn's representative in India said in September that the company was aiming to double its investment and workforce in India by 2024 as the firm looks to diversify its production outside China. The iPhone assembler was severely impacted last year when Chinese lockdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic affected production and output for weeks.

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The company currently employs around 40,000 people at its iPhone factory in Tamil Nadu and recently flew out Chinese engineers to its iPhone manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu to improve production, according to a Rest of World report. The company planned to manufacture iPhone 15 units in India in time so that they could ship alongside units made in other regions, on the launch day.

While Foxconn has achieved high levels of efficiency in China, the company's Tamil Nadu plant was affected by a higher ratio of defective units and more expensive costs for materials — lowering profits from the factory compared its counterparts in China, according to the report that cites two persons close to the company.

Over the coming months, Foxconn will compete with the Tata Group as the Indian tech conglomerate recently completed its takeover of Wistron's Indian unit. While the Tata Group was already producing components used in some iPhone models, the Wistron India acquisition will allow the company to assemble iPhone models in India, alongside Pegatron, Luxshare, and Foxconn.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Foxconn, iPhone, Apple, Foxconn India, Investment

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More