Foxconn Technology Group has received clearance to spend at least $1 billion more in a facility in India that would manufacture Apple Inc. devices, a significant step toward its aim of establishing a center outside of China.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the world’s largest iPhone assembler intends to invest that much in addition to the $1.6 billion it had already put aside for the 300-acre site near Bengaluru’s airport. According to persons familiar with the subject who declined to be identified because the information is confidential, the extra money would fund increased capacity for Apple products, notably the iPhone.
Including the most recently authorized investment, the Taiwanese company would have put aside almost $2.7 billion for the facility, which will serve as the focal point of its production operations in India. The investment demonstrates how Foxconn and its manufacturing counterparts are transferring capacity away from China, which is stuck in an economic slump and grappling with US tensions.
Apple’s key manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has increased its budget for the factory at least once this year. It began in early 2023 with intentions to spend just $700 million in the facility, which is situated in Karnataka’s southern tech cluster. Though the majority of the new investment is for Apple, Foxconn is expected to utilize a portion of the funds and the factory to manufacture products and components for other clients, such as electric car parts.
The state government of Karnataka said Tuesday that it has authorized an additional 139.11 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) in Foxconn investment in the state, without providing any information. According to Bloomberg News, the corporation may potentially utilize the location to manufacture components for its fledgling EV business.
Representatives from Foxconn and Apple did not reply to requests for comment.
Apple’s partners are stepping up attempts to develop a supply chain in India at a time when Chinese companies are withdrawing from the nation due to tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. Another Apple partner, India’s Tata group, is looking to establish one of the country’s largest iPhone manufacturing factories in southern Tamil Nadu state.
The regulatory monitoring of smartphone producers like Xiaomi Corp. and Vivo in India has also prevented some Chinese businesses from establishing operations in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
