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The
announcement was made by Foxconn founder Terry Gou and
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the signing
of an accord in the state capital Mumbai.
The Foxconn announcement will bolster Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign, which aims to turn
Asia's third-largest economy into a manufacturing powerhouse.
Gou said Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co Ltd which also counts Blackberry, Xiaomi [XTC.UL] and Amazon
as clients, was looking for local partners for the facility in
the western Indian state.
He declined to say if the Taiwan-based company would make mobile
phones at the facility.
India could help Foxconn mitigate accelerating wage inflation in
China, where it makes the majority of iPhones, and base
production sites closer to markets where its key clients want to
grow.
On Tuesday, Gou said in New Delhi that he was looking at setting
up manufacturing units in various Indian states and possible
partnerships in the world's fastest growing smartphone market.
He had said in May that Foxconn was aiming to develop 10-12
facilities in India, including factories and data centers, by
2020. Local businessmen are hoping that as Foxconn and other
companies invest in the country, suppliers will follow.
Chief minister Fadnavis said the Foxconn plant would generate
employment for about 50,000 people.
Foxconn employs about 1.3 million people during peak production
times, making it one of the largest private employers in the
world. But it has had to improve labor conditions following a
series of suicides in 2010-2011, mostly at its Shenzhen
manufacturing operation.
The company on Friday confirmed the death of an employee at its
Zhengzhou plant in China which a labor group said was suicide.
(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Writing by Sumeet Chatterjee;
Editing by Robert Birsel and Michael Perry)
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