Foxconn commits to double employment, investments in India

iPhone-maker Apple's supplier Foxconn has committed to doubling employment, investments and business size in India by next year, underlining its smooth and rapid growth in the country, according to a social media post by a company executive.

Wishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday on Sunday, Foxconn representative V Lee wrote in a LinkedIn post: "Under your leadership, Foxconn has grown smoothly and rapidly in India".

"We will work even harder to present you with a greater birthday gift next year, aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI, and business size in India," Lee said in the post.

Replying to the post on X (formerly Twitter), IT, Electronics and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Government is "fully committed" in its endeavour to support and facilitate.

Earlier this month, Young Liu, Chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), said that India will be an important country in terms of manufacturing in the future, his comment adding to a growing chorus of global voices acknowledging the country's bold moves to position itself as electronics and hi-tech production powerhouse.

In an interaction with reporters in Taipei, the top honcho of the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant had further said the development of the entire ecosystem and industrial chain, and opportunities for development in India are "very, very huge opportunities".

"If there is no big change, India will be a very important country in terms of manufacturing in the future," Liu had said.

In the past, it took 30 years to build the entire supply chain ecosystem in China, he noted, adding that while it will take an "appropriate amount of time in India" and the process will be shorter given the experience. The environment too is not quite the same, he had said pointing to the advent of new technologies like AI and generative AI.

India is wooing global IT and electronics players with policy sweeteners and incentive schemes, making a push to position itself as a global hub for hi-tech manufacturing.

India hopes to play on the strength of its storied talent and skill base, vibrant market, and enabling policies to corner a substantial chunk of new investments flowing into electronics and semiconductor production, and global value chains.

Recently, as many as 40 companies, including big names like Foxconn Group, HP, Dell and Lenovo, applied for incentives under India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) IT hardware scheme for manufacturing laptops, PCs and servers.

Last month, Foxconn also said it sees the potential of investing several billions of dollars in India if it gets to completely implement its plan.

Liu during Foxconn's second quarter earnings call in August had said that the company's Indian arm has achieved a turnover of close to USD 10 billion on an annual basis and there is a lot of investment potential in India.

He had said Foxconn operates about nine campuses in India.