Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn, which is known for assembling iPhones, has said on Monday that it is committed to setting up a manufacturing facility in Kongara Kalan, near Hyderabad in Telangana.
Foxconn will invest an undisclosed sum towards an electronics manufacturing facility near Hyderabad. The Telangana government has reportedly earmarked 200 acres of land for Foxconn to set up the manufacturing unit at Kongara Kalan, which is about 35 km from Hyderabad.
The Taiwan-based firm already has operations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where it manufactures products for companies such as Apple and Amazon.
Kongara Kalan Park is close to Outer Ring Road on Sagar Road and falls under Ibrahimpatnam Mandal. It is in close proximity to Raviryal, which is witnessing the establishment of a few manufacturing units, and around 5 km to Adibatla, where TCS has a unit where over 15,000 employees are working.
The Telangana government has been developing the Kongara Kalan area past few years. It has built the Rangareddy district collectorate here. Besides, this locality has been seeing many real estate projects coming up. The cost of prime plots, which used to be around Rs 10,000 sq yard, has now shot up to Rs 20,000 per sq. yard, as per news reports.
Also read: iPhone-maker Foxconn to set up manufacturing facility in Telangana
The state government has been planning to develop an electronics manufacturing cluster between Raviryal and Kongara Kalan. As per news reports, the K. Chandrasekhar Rao government aims to bring in more manufacturers and help the electronic manufacturing sector in the state register Rs 2.5 lakh crore in revenue and create 16 lakh new jobs.
Foxconn project: Telangana vs Karnataka
In the first week of March, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai declared that Foxconn has decided to set up a 300-acre iPhone factory near Bengaluru, which will generate one lakh jobs. Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a primary Apple iPhone assembler. The Karnataka chief minister stated on Saturday that the corporation will receive approximately 300 acres of property near Kempegowda International Airport.
Around the same time, Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao made a similar announcement about Foxconn's plans for his state.
Earlier, the semiconductor major had denied reports of new investments in both states, and added that Foxconn Chairman Young Liu had visited Hyderabad on March 2, but said that nothing was decided. News reports, however, highlighted that Liu had promised to invest $700 million in Karnataka.
“Foxconn has not entered into binding, definitive agreements for new investments during this trip. Negotiations and internal review are ongoing. Financial investment sums discussed in media are not the information being released by Foxconn,” the company had said last week.
On March 6, Liu formally wrote to Telangana CM KCR that the Taiwanese contract manufacturing giant is committed to setting up the plant in the state.
"As discussed with you during our meeting on March 2, Foxconn is committed to setting up a manufacturing facility in Kongara Kalan and I seek the support of your team in operationalising the Kongara Kalan Park as early as possible," Liu wrote in his letter.
A copy of the letter dated March 6 was released by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
In 2022, Foxconn's call to set up a semiconductor plant with its partner Vedanta in Gujarat instead of Maharashtra too kicked up a political storm.