Foxconn augments investment in expanding Apple India plant

In a strategic move aimed at bolstering its foothold in the burgeoning Indian market, Foxconn, a key manufacturing partner of Apple Inc., has announced a substantial augmentation of $1 billion in its investment for the expansion of an Apple- centric manufacturing facility in India,a major ramp-up in its goal of building a hub beyond China.The world’s biggest assembler of iPhones plans to spend that amount on top of the $1.6 billion it earlier set aside for the 300-acre site close to Bengaluru’s airport, people familiar. The new capital will bankroll additional capacity for Apple devices, including likely the iPhone, according to information.
Including the most recently approved spending, the Taiwanese firm will have set aside roughly $2.7 billion for the site, set to become the centerpiece of the its manufacturing capabilities in India. The outlay underscores how Foxconn and its manufacturing peers are shifting capacity away from China, which is mired in an economic downturn and struggling to deal with US tensions.
Foxconn, Apple’s most important manufacturing partner, has ramped up its budget for the plant at least once this year. It started out in early 2023 with plans to invest just $700 million in the complex, located in the southern tech hub of Karnataka. Though the bulk of the new investment is for Apple, Foxconn is likely to use a portion of the money and the plant to make devices and components such as electric vehicle parts for other customers. Karnataka’s government said Tuesday it had approved another 139.11 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) of overall Foxconn investment in the state, stated recent report.

(Ira Singh, Asstt Editor)