India to be new manufacturing hub, says Foxconn Chief

In a significant development for India's manufacturing sector, the chairman and CEO of Foxconn Technology Group, Young Liu, has expressed his optimism about India becoming a prominent manufacturing center in the near future. Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, is renowned for producing a wide range of consumer electronics, including Apple's iPhone.During a recent interview, Young Liu stated that India's potential as a manufacturing hub is rapidly growing, thanks to several key factors that have aligned to make it an attractive destination for global companies seeking to diversify their supply chains and reduce reliance on traditional manufacturing bases like China.
A little over a month after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat,Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) chairman and CEO Young Liu once again threw his weight behind the production quality of India and said that the country is poised to emerge as 'the new manufacturing center in the world', with the supplier ecosystem likely to develop faster than the time it took to come up in China.Liu said that Foxconn will expand its operations in India as business grows on higher consumer  purchases."Foxconn continues to expand its presence in India in response to customer needs,"the chairman said in a statement in Taiwan as he outlined the company's plans for growth in India.
Liu said that if there are not many changes in India,the country will "become a new manufacturing center" for the world.He also added that the supply chain ecosystem-which took over 30 years to build in China-is likely to come up faster in India, especially as there are huge opportunities for the local electronics industry.
The Foxconn chairman has time and again emphasised on the growing proximity between India and Taiwan when it comes to manufacturing."Where there is a will, there is a way.I can feel the determination of the Indian government and am very optimistic of where it will be headed.PM Modi once mentioned to me that 'IT' stands for India and Taiwan.Mr PM, Taiwan is,and will be,your most trusted and reliable partner.Let's do this together,"he had said at the India Semiconductor summit in Gandhinagar in late July.
Foxconn has been in India since 2005,and has now embarked on a major expansion drive to ride the surge in demand for electronics such as smartphones and televisions,as well as electric vehicles.It is already the world's largest contract manufacturer of Apple's products and now one of the top manufacturers of iPhones in India.Liu has said that the company will bring in investments worth billions of dollars and expand beyond its 30 factories, which collectively have a turnover of around $10 billion.
After the company's second quarter results in August , Liu had said that the company's revenue, number of employees and investment scale has grown exponentially in India over the past few years.He said that while the company is currently engaged in the assembly of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products,the list will grow further."Going forward, Hon Hai will actively deploy work in the area of key components to raise it's competitiveness in India.In addition to existing operations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,Hon Hai will also deploy (facilities)in Karnataka, Telangana and other states.Through close cooperation with central and local governments, Hon Hai will plan to establish industrial parks and optimise the business environment in terms of infrastructure, policies and laws," he said.

(Ira Singh, Asstt Editor)