Days after reports that iPhone maker Foxconn is building hostels for about 60,000 workers near its Chennai factory to boost production of Apple devices, the latest report said Apple is also planning to increase production in India amid of COVID-19 related supply chain issues in China.
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has said that some Apple suppliers have applied for land from the authority, with a proposed investment of Rs 2,800 crore as they generate thousands of jobs, according to a news agency. IANS report.
Foxconn currently manufactures iPhones at its factory in Sriperumbudur. The contract manufacturing company has more than 15,000 employees, most of them women. In the next 18 months, the number of employees is expected to increase to 70,000. In response to strong domestic demand for Apple products and the company’s aim to diversify outside of China, “solid construction” is underway on a 20-acre plot in Tamil Nadu.
The government has also approved Rs 357.17 crore for Apple’s supplier Foxconn India and Rs 58.29 crore for Dixon Technologies subsidiary Padget Electronics under the Production-Linked Incentive mobile phone scheme.
YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh told news agency IANS that the Apple suppliers have already deposited 10 percent of the proposed land allocation in sector 29 under the Yamuna authority near the upcoming Jewar airport in Greater Noida.
“Seiko Advance Limited, an ink manufacturing company, expressed a desire to make its product on 2 hectares of land in Sector 29 of YEIDA,” said Singh. Seiko Advance Limited alone will invest Rs 850 crore and provide employment to thousands of people, he added.
Sector 29 is well developed with various facilities available for businesses.
The Apple suppliers, along with a well-known camera parts manufacturer, proposed to set up a unit on about 23 acres of land with a proposed investment of Rs 2,800 crore. Singh said Apple suppliers proposed the investment at a recent meeting in South Korea.
Seiko Advance makes ink for devices such as the iPhones.
Apple CEO Tim Cook had visited the company in 2019 when he said that the ‘Midnight Green’ dye was “made only by high quality control and craftsmanship” at the factory.
Meanwhile, Apple is accelerating its production plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of China’s turmoil over its zero-Covid policy that has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that the company is “urging its suppliers to more actively plan to assemble Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly in India and Vietnam” to “reduce reliance on Foxconn-led Taiwanese assemblers” .
The shake-up in China, which hit the Zhengzhou factory, Foxconn’s main supplier, last month and resulted in violent protests means “Apple is no longer comfortable with so much of its business tied up in one place,” the report said. , citing analysts and people in the Apple supply chain.
According to analyst Ming-chi Kuo, Apple plans to ship 40 to 45 percent of iPhones from India, compared to a single-digit percentage today. According to JP Morgan, every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025.
In response to India’s push for local production, Apple had started production of new iPhone 14 in India earlier this year, a first for the tech giant as it shortens the production window of new iPhones in the country to reduce dependence on China.
Buoyed by the ease of doing business and friendly local manufacturing policies, Apple’s “Make in India” iPhones may account for nearly 85 percent of total iPhone production for the country this year, according to industry experts.
Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with the iPhone SE.
The tech giant produces some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at the Foxconn factory, while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are assembled at the country’s Wistron factory.
(With input from agencies)
Read all the latest business news here