The Karnataka government and iPhone maker Foxconn have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for two projects with an estimated investment outlay of Rs 5,000 crore generating 13,000 jobs, state Large and Medium Industries Minister M.B. Patil said on Wednesday.
These projects are in addition to the iPhone end assembly plant which the Taiwanese company has planned to set up at Devanahalli ITIR in the outskirts of Bengaluru with an investment of about Rs.14,000 crore.
Giving out details about the signing formalities that took place at a private hotel in Chennai on Monday, Patil said that Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and state IT/BT minister Priyanka Kharge were present on the occasion.
According to the minister, the intended projects include a Phone enclosure project for which FII (Foxconn Industrialist Internet), a Foxconn subsidiary, invests Rs 3,000 crore ($350 mn) that is estimated to create 12,000 jobs.
The other project is the Semicon equipment project wherein Foxconn would invest Rs 2,000 crore ($250 mn) to take up a project in collaboration with Applied Materials that is likely to generate 1000 jobs, he added.
The Letter of Intent outlines the framework for the proposed two projects that Foxconn plans to establish in the state. The phone enclosure unit will engage in manufacturing subassembly components for smartphones, specifically mechanical enclosures of iPhones.
FII is currently evaluating suitable land parcels in and around Bengaluru. It is noted here that the FII leadership team had met and held discussions with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers Patil and Kharge a few weeks ago at Bengaluru regarding the above project.
Followed by the discussion, the company team was taken to Japan Industrial Township in Tumakuru on the same day where the available 100-acre parcel of land was shown.
Company's Semicon Equipment Manufacturing project in collaboration with Applied Materials is to establish a production unit for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The location for this project is likely to be finalised at the Haralur Muddenahalli - Hi-Tech Aerospace and Defence Park-Phase II in Bengaluru Rural district, where Foxconn has sought a 35-acre plot.
Liu was in India to attend SemiconIndia 2023 in Gandhinagar, and subsequently visited Chennai on Monday. Dr E.V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science and Technology and Commissioner of Industrial Development Gunjan Krishna were also present.
(With inputs from IANS)
