India wanted to be a potentate. They received a powerful blow. Apple supplier withdraws from building a chip factory

Foxconn manufactures electronic subassemblies and components and is one of Apple’s main suppliers. Suffice it to say that it is responsible for the assembly of most iPhones that go to customers around the world, but it also supplies equipment to companies such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Huawei, Amazon, Google and Microsoft. The Taiwanese have their plants and factories in several countries around the world, but recently decided to invest in building more plants in India.

Foxconn terminates contract to build $20 billion factory

In September 2022, Foxconn signed a contract to build an integrated circuit factory in the Indian state of Gujarat (in the west of the country). The investment was impressive, because it was based on a trifle of USD 19.5 billion and was supposed to be the first step that would help India become a global tycoon in the production of semiconductors. Now, however, Foxconn has unexpectedly terminated its contract with Indian mining giant Vedanta, with whom it was planning to build a plant.

Foxconn said the decision was made jointly with Vedanta to “explore more diverse development opportunities.” In turn, Foxconn wrote that “both sides felt that the project was not moving fast enough.” He added that along the way there were problems that both companies were unable to deal with. However, the Taiwanese indicated that they wanted to “continue to strongly support the government’s ambitions” in New Delhi.

A big blow to India. They were to become a world tycoon

Some experts believe that the decision of the Taiwanese giant is a powerful blow for India, which wants to become a world leader in chip production. Asia’s third economy is seeking to take over at least part of its production, primarily from China, but also from Taiwan and the US. Vedanta has already announced that it does not want to abandon plans to build a chip plant and hopes that the investment will be carried out in cooperation with another partner. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s electronics and information technology minister, said on Twitter that Focxonn’s decision “will not have any impact on India’s semiconductor manufacturing goals.” He added that “India is just getting started.” Recently, several other companies have announced plans to build chip factories.

A month ago, Micron, an American manufacturer of memory chips, announced that it would invest $825 million. for the construction of its plant in India. In turn, in early June, the Indian government of the state of Karnataka admitted that Foxconn plans to start production of iPhones in this Indian state as early as April 2024 (currently, most of Apple’s smartphones are made in China). The company has already bought land for the construction of the factory, and worth USD 1.6 billion. The investment is to create 50,000 jobs. jobs.