Foxconn, the largest contract electronics manufacturer and a major assembler of Apple iPhones, has acquired a significant amount of land near Bengaluru, India, as part of its strategy to diversify production away from China. The move comes in response to the impact of strict Covid policies and ongoing diplomatic tensions between China and the United States, which have affected manufacturing operations. The acquisition, spanning 1.2 million square meters, was announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. Foxconn’s subsidiary, Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, purchased the land for three billion rupees ($37 million). In addition to India, Foxconn’s presence in Vietnam is also expanding, as one of its units secured land use rights to a 480,000-square-meter site in Nghe An province.
The decision to invest in India aligns with the state’s chief minister’s earlier announcement that Apple would soon establish an iPhone manufacturing plant in Karnataka, generating approximately 100,000 jobs. Bloomberg News previously reported that Foxconn planned to invest $700 million in a new factory in Karnataka. During his visit to the state, Foxconn’s chairman, Young Liu, aimed to strengthen partnerships and explore collaboration in emerging areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles. Liu also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss enhancing India’s technology and innovation ecosystem.
Foxconn has been manufacturing Apple devices in India since 2019 at its facility in Tamil Nadu. In addition to Foxconn, other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also manufacture and assemble Apple devices in India. Apple itself has been making efforts to expand its presence in India, with CEO Tim Cook recently inaugurating the company’s first two retail stores in the country with the largest population in the world.
Overall, Foxconn’s land acquisition in India signifies its strategic move to reduce reliance on China for manufacturing, while also capitalizing on the country’s growing technology market. It aligns with Apple’s own expansion plans and highlights the increasing importance of India as a manufacturing and consumer market for major global tech companies.
