A day after Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant, Foxconn, announced its withdrawal from a joint venture with Indian conglomerate Vedanta, the company has stated it is preparing to apply for incentives under a semiconductor and display fab programme, reaffirming its commitment to India.
Foxconn, which had recently pulled out of a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Vedanta, said in a statement on Tuesday, “We welcome a diverse set of stakeholders, both inside India and abroad, who also want to see India get to the next level and can complement Foxconn’s world-class supply chain management and manufacturing efficiency.”
Foxconn is planning to submit an application related to the Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem. The company expressed its belief in India’s potential to establish a strong semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, albeit over time. “Foxconn first entered India in 2006 and we are still here.
The group looks forward to growing alongside India’s nascent semiconductor industry,” it said.
Foxconn also emphasised its sustained and transparent communication with government stakeholders across India, assuring them of its unwavering commitment to investing in India.
Concerning its decision to withdraw from the joint venture with Vedanta, Foxconn clarified that both parties had mutually agreed to this resolution. The company explained that the project was not advancing rapidly enough and faced challenges that could not be smoothly resolved, in addition to external issues related to the project. In response to reports casting doubt on the group’s investment integrity, Foxconn asserted that this was “absolutely not the case.”
“Building fabs from scratch in a new geography is a challenge, but Foxconn is committed to invest in India,” Foxconn said, adding that the company has been tackling challenges like this since the 1980s.
With regards to potential losses related to the JV with Vedanta, Foxconn clarified that it had not injected capital or fixed assets into the JV. However, the company refrained from sharing more details due to competitive and sensitive issues associated with negotiating large-scale investments.
It should be noted that the Vedanta Foxconn JV had announced the establishment of India’s first electronic chip manufacturing unit in Gujarat.
Despite Foxconn’s withdrawal, both the Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have asserted that Foxconn and Vedanta remain committed to India’s semiconductor mission and the Make-in-India programme.
