It's a massive fillip to the Centre's 'Make in India' programme and, perhaps more so, to its Production Linked Incentive, or PLI, plan. Foxconn, the Taiwanese leader in contract manufacturing, closed out the last fiscal with business of $10 billion in India. In the same period, FY24, operations in India for Apple increased to $23.5 billion in value, underpinning a rising role that India is taking to become a competitive alternative to China and Vietnam when it comes to manufacturing.
Foxconn, one of Apple Inc.'s major suppliers, has pledged $1.4 billion to India so far, with more in the pipeline.
The visiting CEO and Chairman of Foxconn, Young Liu, did say that there existed huge growth potential in the Indian market. Continuing investments by Foxconn are likely to give further fillip to India's emergence as a major manufacturing hub.
During his visit, Liu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other key leaders to discuss Foxconn's investments in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana. The Chief Ministers of States and Cabinet Ministers participated in the meetings.
Union Minister for Railways, Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw responded positively to the continuous investment plans that Foxconn showed and lauded the efforts "that have made India one of the top manufacturing destinations in the world".
He also discussed with PM Modi the opportunities in the newer sectors like AI, semiconductors, and local electronics manufacturing.
He invited Foxconn to invest in the proposed Fourth City near Hyderabad. He added, "Liu considers Hyderabad to have huge growth potential, from industry to services.".
The Government of Karnataka came out with positive progress on the Foxconn iPhone assembly plant project in Bengaluru Rural district, which will also involve an investment of ₹22,000 crore and has the likelihood of generating more than 50,000 jobs. Other than this, Foxconn is setting up a facility for mechanical components of electric vehicles—Project Cheetah—and has acquired private land in Bengaluru for the same.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has also met Foxconn Chairman Liu and discussed issues related to the future of technological innovation in India and the rest of the world.
Separately, Apple revenues from India stood almost at $8 billion in FY24 to a fresh all-time high in exports at around $3.8 billion for Q1 FY25 ending June.
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