Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, has purchased a 300-acre plot of land for approximately Rs 300 crore ($37 million) in the Devanahalli area of Bengaluru, according to filings with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on May 9. The purchase was carried out on behalf of Foxconn's subsidiary, Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development.
Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of the Department of Industries and Commerce for the Karnataka government, Gunjan Krishna, informed Moneycontrol that Foxconn is expected to take possession of the land after the May 10 elections.
This development follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on March 20 between the Karnataka government and Foxconn, in which the electronics manufacturer committed to investing Rs 8,000 crore for a mobile manufacturing unit in the state that would provide employment opportunities for 50,000 people.
The land is close to the Kempegowda International Airport, and represents Foxconn's latest move in diversifying its production away from China. The company is the largest supplier of Apple iPhone parts.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Electronics & Technology, even tweeted that Apple phones would be manufactured in a new 300-acre factory in Karnataka. The purchase of land by Foxconn on May 9 further cements the company's commitment to expanding its operations in the state.
In India, however, the Foxy business has just begun. Regardless, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer has been finding it difficult to stay out of the headlines. Reports of making states wage a bidding war, mislead the government, or lobby for softer labour regulations have been a constant with Foxconn.
Earlier this year, the company was embroiled in controversy when both Telangana and Karnataka governments simultaneously claimed Foxconn to have signed up for big investments in their respective states to manufacture electronics.
A similar scenario played out in Foxconn’s foundry plans when their proposed joint venture with Vedanta, which was in an advanced stage of talks for a site in Maharashtra, suddenly shifted to Gujarat just ahead of the state elections.
Read more: Is Foxconn Conning India?
- Amazon Warns Engineers Against AI Productivity Traps in Latest Memo
- Gnani AI Launches Prisma v3.0 Speech Recognition Model for 10 Languages
- Venttup Raises $3 Million To Expand Precision Manufacturing
- Articul8 Launches Bivia To Help Enterprise AI Agents Make Decisions
- NVIDIA Launches Open-Weight Transcription Model for 40 Languages
- Sarvam AI Rolls Out Indus Cowork to 2,500 Maharashtra Govt Officials