When Foxconn chair Young Liu was in Tamil Nadu two weeks ago to discuss more investment by the iPhone manufacturer in the southern Indian state, two ministers from neighbouring Karnataka sought him out for their own meeting — and later produced documents claiming Foxconn also intended to build two factories in their state.
While Foxconn insisted it had not committed to any project, the Karnataka government’s lobbying was a sign of the intense competition brewing in India to attract more investment from the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, as Apple and other tech companies diversify away from their reliance on China.
Multinationals’ desire for a “China plus one” strategy, following supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing, is driving Foxconn into a renewed push into India, where it first invested 15 years ago but where it still only employs some 50,000 of its 1mn global workforce.