Foxconn will invest US $700 million to build a new plant in India to produce Apple iPhone parts

According to people familiar with the matter, Foxconn, the contract manufacturer of Apple, plans to invest about $700 million (currently about 4.837 billion yuan) to build a new factory in India to increase local production.

Foxconn plans to build an iPhone parts factory on a 300acre site near Bangalore airport in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, according to people familiar with the matter. The factory may also assemble iPhone. Foxconn may also use the plant to produce parts for its fledgling electric car business. The new production base is expected to create about 100000 jobs. By contrast, Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone assembly plant currently employs about 200000 people, although the number will surge during the peak production season.

The plan is still likely to change as Foxconn is finalizing investment and project details, according to people familiar with the matter. It is also unclear whether the plant represents new capacity or whether Foxconn has transferred capacity from other places, such as Chinese factories. To boost its manufacturing sector, India has provided financial incentives to Apple suppliers such as Foxconn. Foxconn last year began producing the latest generation of iPhone at a factory in Tamil Nadu. Smaller Foxconn rivals Wituang and Pegatron are also expanding in India. Apple suppliers such as Jepp Technology have begun making parts for the AirPods locally.

Liu Yangwei, chairman of Foxconn, met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week and promised another manufacturing project in neighboring Terengana. Apple declined to comment. The governments of Foxconn and Karnataka have not commented.