Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn on Saturday confirmed that its chairman had visited India but ruled out “entering into any binding, definitive agreement” following reports that it plans new investments in the country.
It is also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry. Foxconn Apple is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a major assembler of iPhones.
Both companies are seeking to diversify away from China, where most of their manufacturing is based, following strict Covid policies last year and ongoing diplomatic tensions with the United States.
Foxconn said in a statement on Saturday that no deal was finalized during Chairman and CEO Young Liu’s visit to India from February 27 to March 4.
“Foxconn has not entered into a binding, definitive agreement for the new investment during this visit,” the statement said.
“Negotiations and internal review are ongoing. The financial investment amounts discussed in the media are not information being released by Foxconn.”
This statement has come after the Chief Minister Karnataka The governor of the state, Basavaraj S Bommai, tweeted on Friday that Apple would “soon” manufacture the iPhone at a new plant in the state, creating “about 100,000 jobs”.
Bloomberg News reported that Foxconn was planning to invest $700 million in a new factory in Karnataka, citing unnamed sources.
The office of Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao of neighboring Telangana state also tweeted that Liu had signed an agreement on Thursday to “set up electronics manufacturing facilities”.
Foxconn said the employment figures currently being reported “do not equate to direct jobs” with the company.
“My visit this week supports Foxconn’s efforts to deepen partnership … and seek collaboration in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles,” Liu said in the statement.
He also met earlier this week with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted on Wednesday that the pair’s “discussions covered a wide range of topics aimed at enhancing India’s tech and innovation eco-system”.
Foxconn has manufactured Apple handsets in India since 2019 at its plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Two other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also manufacture and assemble Apple devices in India.
Apple said last September it would be manufacturing its latest iPhone 14 in India, just weeks after launching the flagship model.
But the country accounts for less than five percent of Apple’s global production, lagging behind the United States, China, Japan and five other countries, according to Bloomberg.
Apple’s expanded manufacturing in India is a boost to Modi’s “Make in India” strategy, under which he has urged foreign businesses to make goods in the South Asian nation.
The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification.
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