Foxconn to start manufacturing iPhones in Bengaluru by April 2024

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, a key Apple supplier, will start manufacturing iPhones in Bengaluru by April 2024, Minister for Large and Medium Industries MB Patil said on Thursday. The minister informed that the company has plans to start manufacturing iPhones at its proposed Devanahalli plant and the state government would hand over the required land for the company by July 1 to facilitate this, India Today reported.

"The identified 300 acres of land at ITIR of Devanahalli would be handed over by July 1," Patil said, adding that along with this, the government would ensure providing 5 MLD of water, quality power supply, road connectivity, and other infrastructure facilities.

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The announcement comes just weeks after the new government led by Congress took over in Karnataka. The Rs 13,600 crore project is expected to create 50,000 jobs. The minister said that Foxconn has been asked to provide the details of the skill sets it seeks in employees. Accordingly, he said, steps will be taken to facilitate training programmes for eligible candidates to make them employable.

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Foxconn has already paid 30 per cent of the cost of the land (Rs 90 crore) to Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board. The electronics giant has set the goal to complete the project in three faces and has set a target of manufacturing 20 million units (2 crore units) annually from the plant after the completion of three phases.

The minister made the announcement after the representatives of the company led by George Chu met him as part of the courtesy visit. Karnataka's Information and Technology Minister Priyanka Kharge was also present.

Last month, Foxconn informed that it had bought a huge tract of land in tech hub Bengaluru. The company is the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of Apple iPhones. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company said it had acquired 1.2 million-square-meter (13 million-square-foot) land in Devanahalli, near the airport for Bengaluru.

In March, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Apple would "soon" manufacture iPhones at a new plant that would create "about 100,000 jobs".

Apple has been shifting production away from China after the country's strict Covid-related restrictions disrupted the production of new iPhones and other devices in the country, Reuters said. The tech giant is also looking to avoid a hit to its business due to rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.

In April this year, Apple opened its first retail stores in India. The iPhone maker opened two stores - one in Delhi, and another in Mumbai. 

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said that India was on its way to becoming a global leader in the mobile devices segment as the country's exports of smartphones had doubled to over $11 billion. Mobile phone exports from India reached close to $11.12 billion with iPhone maker Apple accounting for around half of the total exports. 

"With the doubling of exports of smartphones to more than $11 billion, India is well on its way to becoming a leader in the mobile device market of the world and playing a major role in India's electronic exports. This is a major win for PM Modiji's 'Make in India' programme," Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.