Hyderabad:
Apple supplier Foxconn will invest $500 million in Telangana and as many as 25,000 jobs will be created in the first phase of the project, Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao announced today.
The Foxconn factory will be located near Hyderabad, on Kongar Kalaan in Ranga Reddy district.
“While demonstrating the ‘Telangana Speed’, today I am pleased to announce Foxconn’s groundbreaking first factory in Telangana on the Kongar Kalaan. With an investment of more than $500 million, it will create 25,000 direct jobs in its first phase,” said the minister. also the son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, said in a tweet.
To demonstrate the “Telangana Speed”, today I am pleased to announce Foxconn’s groundbreaking first factory in Telangana to Kongar Kalaan
With an investment of more than $500 million, it will create 25,000 direct jobs in the first phase #Telangana#Foxconnpic.twitter.com/PHThJWxsfT
— KTR (@KTRBRS) May 15, 2023
Mr. Rama Rao, also known as KTR, is Telangana’s Minister of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications. He also handles the municipal administration and urban development and industry and trade portfolios.
A joint statement between the government of Telangana and Foxconn said the new facility is “a pledge to continue providing world-class products to the markets, and a milestone for Foxconn Interconnect Technology’s global expansion strategy.”
The statement thanked the state government for its “unwavering commitment to promoting a favorable business environment”.
Headquartered in Taiwan’s New Taipei City, Foxconn is the world’s largest manufacturer of iPhones, with a majority of its factories located in mainland China.
The Covid pandemic and Beijing’s harsh lockdown had paralyzed production at Foxconn’s factories in China. This, along with violent protests over wages and working conditions at iPhone’s largest factory, led to a supply chain crisis that forced Apple and Foxconn to rethink their over-reliance on China.
The choice of India as an investment destination should also be seen against the background of a geopolitical trend of companies looking beyond China, while tensions between Washington and Beijing are rising.
Apple’s push in India was reflected in the opening of two stores in Delhi and Mumbai last month. During the grand event, CEO Tim Cook flew down. During his trip, Mr. Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several prominent personalities from different fields.
Foxconn has also bought a huge plot of land on the outskirts of Bengaluru, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange earlier this month. Earlier in March, Basavaraj S Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, had said that Apple products would soon be manufactured in the state and about a lakh jobs would be created.