Telangana’s IT Minister KT Rama Rao announced on Monday that Taiwan-based Foxconn will set up a manufacturing unit at Kongar Kalaan in the state. The minister tweeted that the company will invest $500 million in the first phase, which is expected to create 25,000 jobs.
Reuters had reported in March this year that Foxconn won a contract to build Apple Airpods and the company planned to set up manufacturing units in India.
Foxconn is one of the largest suppliers of Apple and it has been looking to invest in India as it tries to diversify its production away from China due to the country’s ongoing tensions with the United States. Apple had suffered disruptions in its supply due to China’s Covid lockdowns and restrictions.
Foxconn has been manufacturing Apple handsets in India since 2019 at its plant in Tamil Nadu. It had also received approval from Karnataka government in March to invest $968 million in the state and since then it has bought 300-acre land in Devanahalli near Bengaluru’s airport.
Apple’s other major suppliers in India include Pegatron and Wistron. However, reports indicated that Wistron is looking to wind down its operations in the country and BusinessLine reported last month that Tata Group is set to complete takeover of a unit manufacturing Apple devices in the country.
Apple has been increasing its presence in the country, with the US-based tech giant opening its first offline stores in Delhi and Mumbai recently.
