iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, plans to expand its footprint in India with another New Taiwan (NT) $50 billion (or $1.6 billion) investment as part of its strategy to diversify outside China.

The announcement was made in an exchange filing in Taiwan. It didn’t give any further details, saying only that the investment was for “operational needs.” The investment was made through a Foxconn subsidiary, Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, which has been registered in Maharashtra since 2015.

Foxconn is the largest contract manufacturer for Apple in the world and gets half of its revenues from making Apple products. Even in India, Foxconn’s production of Apple products, outpaces its competitors Tata and Pegatron. 

So far, the Taiwanese electronics major has invested nearly $8 billion in India. But it plans to seriously bump its investment into the country, as the tensions between the United States and Beijing continue to be on the rise. 

Foxconn employs more than 40,000 workers in the country. It operates on around nine campuses with a total size of more than the equivalent of 500 football fields. Their 30 factories in India account for $10 billion of annual revenue, which is 4.6 per cent of the company’s $216-billion 2022 revenue — up from 2 per cent registered in 2021. It is building one more factory in India,  a new electronic components manufacturing facility  in the Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu.

It is also mulling to invest ₹8,800 crore in Karnataka to set up an iPhone component unit, which will create 14,000 new jobs. Part of the $1.6-billion investment could be for this purpose as well. Earlier this year, Foxconn officials were taken to  Tumakuru, a city in Karnataka, to examine the available land at Japan Industrial Township. The facility could  manufacture screens and outer coverings needed for phones.

Semicon unit

Foxconn is also the most serious  contender to make India’s first semicon fabrication unit. It has earlier paired up with Vedanta to deliver a fab, however after the partnership dissolved the Taiwanese firm said that it will set up semiconductor production lines without an Indian partner, and is in discussions with the government to get its semiconductor plans approved. 

After Semicon Gujarat 2023, where Foxconn Chairman Young Liu shared the dias with Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the Chairman told the investors that their capex in India will grow more this year in comparison to last year.

“Foxconn’s annual revenue last year was more than $200 billion. From the perspective of India’s potential market size, and if we can fully implement our plans there, the several billion dollar investment is only the beginning,” he said in the earnings call.

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