Foxconn to Invest Over $1.5 Billion in India; Sent Chinese Engineers to Train Workers This Year: Reports

Apple supplier Foxconn will invest over $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,500 crore) in India as the company looks to expand production of Apple’s iPhone in the country, according to a report. The move comes a year after the Taiwanese firm’s factories in China were negatively impacted by the country’s strict COVID-19 restrictions in 2022. The company also reportedly flew Chinese engineers to India in order to train workers at its factory to improve efficiency earlier this year.

CNBC reports that Foxconn will invest more than $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,500 crore) to be budgeted for a “construction project to fulfil operational needs” of the company in the country, according to security filings. The multi-crore investment will be made via its subsidiary Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, as per the report.

Foxconn’s representative in India said in September that the company was aiming to double its investment and workforce in India by 2024 as the firm looks to diversify its production outside China. The iPhone assembler was severely impacted last year when Chinese lockdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic affected production and output for weeks.

The company currently employs around 40,000 people at its iPhone factory in Tamil Nadu and recently flew out Chinese engineers to its iPhone manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu to improve production, according to a Rest of World report. The company planned to manufacture iPhone 15 units in India in time so that they could ship alongside units made in other regions, on the launch day.

While Foxconn has achieved high levels of efficiency in China, the company’s Tamil Nadu plant was affected by a higher ratio of defective units and more expensive costs for materials — lowering profits from the factory compared its counterparts in China, according to the report that cites two persons close to the company.

Over the coming months, Foxconn will compete with the Tata Group as the Indian tech conglomerate recently completed its takeover of Wistron’s Indian unit. While the Tata Group was already producing components used in some iPhone models, the Wistron India acquisition will allow the company to assemble iPhone models in India, alongside Pegatron, Luxshare, and Foxconn.