A boost to India’s drying electronic manufacturing

MUMBAI, INDIA: If all goes well, India will get a much needed boost to its electronic manufacturing segment.

According to a report in the Times of India, Foxconn is planning to partner with Ahmedabad-based Adani Group to set up at least four electronics manufacturing facilities in India.

Sources told the newspaper that top executives of the Taiwanese company visited Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat earlier this month to look at possible locations to set up the manufacturing plants. Vincent Tong Wen-Hsin, Chairman and Director, Investments, Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) Mobile, and Calvin Chih, CEO, also had detailed discussions with the state governments.

“It could become a $5-billion investment. They visited some other states too. We are hoping that Karnataka's talent pool and fiscal incentives would make them decide to locate a facility here," a government official, who did not want to be named, told ToI.

It must be noted that Terry Gou, Group Chairman, Foxconn, had told news agency Reuters that the group was looking at developing 10-12 facilities in India, including factories and data centers by 2020. "A lot of our customers, especially Chinese customers, need us to manufacture ... in India, to make phones, tablets, TVs, as soon as possible," Gou had said.

In China, Foxconn makes phones for Apple, Motorola, Huawei, BlackBerry, and Sony.