BENGALURU: A day after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer, is planning to invest in the state, the company on Saturday denied entering into any binding, definitive agreements.
According to the report, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Young Liu said his trip to India from February 27 to March 4 was Foxconn’s efforts to deepen partnerships and seek cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles.
“Foxconn has not entered into binding, definitive agreements for new investments during this trip,” the statement said. “Negotiations and internal review are ongoing. Financial investment sums discussed in media are not the information being released by Foxconn.”
On Friday, Bommai had said the government signed an agreement with Foxconn for a major investment in the state. “Agreement signed with Foxconn, leading electronics major, to make a major investment in the state after a detailed discussion with co’s C’man Young Liu. It is expected to create 1 lakh jobs. 300 acres of land near Bengaluru Int. airport allocated,” Bommai had tweeted.
Minister of state (MoS), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted a report along with-Apple phones to be built in a new 300-acre factory in Karnataka. “The double-engine governments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bommai are working to get investments and add jobs,” tweeted Chandrasekhar.
The Foxconn CEO earlier this week met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted on Wednesday that the pair’s “discussions covered various topics aimed at enhancing India’s tech and innovation eco-system”.
Foxconn is one of the biggest contract manufacturers of Apple’s smartphones and has manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The Cupertino-based company, Apple, shifted its focus to India after its prime manufacturers and assembling plants in China faced a complete shutdown in 2022 due to its zero Covid policy.
The tension between the US and the Chinese government is another reason that American technology companies are shifting their base to India or Vietnam. Last year, the company started assembling the latest iPhone 14 models in India, weeks after its launch. In India, other than Foxconn, Apple’s iPhones are also manufactured by its contract manufacturers Wistron and Pegatron.
FOXCONN CEO EARLIER THIS WEEK MET PM MODI
According to the report, the company’s CEO Young Liu said his trip to India from Feb 27 to Mar 4 was Foxconn’s efforts to deepen partnerships and seek cooperation in new areas like semiconductor development and electric vehicles. The Foxconn CEO earlier this week met PM Modi, who tweeted on Wednesday the pair’s “discussions covered topics aimed at enhancing India’s tech and innovation eco-system”.