By Munsif Vengattil and Praveen Paramasivam
CHENNAI (Reuters) -A Foxconn unit will on Monday sign an agreement with India’s Tamil Nadu state to build a new facility for electronic components that will create 6,000 new jobs, a senior state government source with direct knowledge said.
The subsidiary, Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII), plans to invest 16 billion Indian rupees ($194.45 million) to build a campus in Kancheepuram district, near the state’s capital of Chennai, added the source, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
The facility will be separate from the current sprawling campus near Chennai where Foxconn assembles Apple’s iPhones and employs more than 35,000 people, the source said.
Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The state government, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said on LinkedIn on Monday morning a “big announcement” was expected during the day that would mean Tamil Nadu would retain its “top position as India’s Electronics Powerhouse.”
Reuters reported last week the Foxconn subsidiary was in talks with Tamil Nadu about the investment, with the company aiming for the plant’s completion in 2024.
Foxconn’s FII makes electronic devices, cloud service equipment and industrial robots. It was not immediately clear if the new India plant would make components for iPhones or for other companies, or both.
An official announcement is expected from the state government later in the day, with Foxconn chairman Young Liu, who has been in India to attend the federal government’s semiconductor conference, attending the signing ceremony with state chief minister, the source said.
Foxconn plans to quadruple the workforce at its iPhone factory in Tamil Nadu by late 2024 in a bid to spread its bets beyond China, Reuters reported last year.
($1 = 82.2825 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Additional reporting by Yi-Mou Lee; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Jamie Freed)
