Foxconn plans on opening 10-12 centres in India to create 1 million jobs

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou visited India recently and said he plans on opening new manufacturing units and to do it as quickly as possible. For those unaware Foxconn is one of the largest hardware manufacturers in the world and most famous for manufacturing the iPhone.

Gou said he plans on creating 10-12 manufacturing plants in India by 2020.

“I am ready, ask your government,” says Gou. “Which state will make India most friendly for manufacturing – that’s where we will start. There will be at least 1 million jobs created by 2020, maybe more, and not just basic jobs but jobs for skilled workers and engineers. We want to set up our plant in rural areas, and transform the area, with jobs and infrastructure.”

Gou also said to do this the Indian government needs a big push forward. Foxconn had already opened a manufacturing plant in India a few years ago, but things didn’t go very well with Gou blaming the government for it’s failure. However now with new political leaders in India he feels like it’s the perfect time to try again.

“Indian local [state] government is also much more friendly now,” he adds, saying, “I met with the Chief Ministers of three of your states, AP [Andhra Pradesh], Gujarat, and Maharashtra. [The CMs of] Gujarat and Maharashtra came to China, and saw my facilities, and they’re keen that we set up in their states. Ten years ago, government was not friendly.”

Another reason Gou thinks India is such a good place to manufacture is because of the growing online business yet it lacks manufacturing.

People also asked about Apple and what businesses he will manufacture there. He responded that he doesn’t care what he manufactures as long as it makes sense for them and listed no current brands.

Gou listed that “infrastructure will be a big limitation” stating that it was supposed to take 20min to arrive, but it took 1 hour and 20 minutes due to rain. He also listed taxes as being a problem as every state has different tax rates, but all these can be worked on.

“Your infrastructure will be a big limitation. Today I was told it will take 20 minutes to reach you, but it took 1 hour 20 minutes because it rained,” he points out. “Power is a problem. If there is a power cut, the entire factory has to stop working. Power, water, skilled workers, all these problems need to be solved.”

It will be a tough road ahead for Foxconn in India with all these and many more problems. However Gou still believes that all these problems can be solved quickly and efficiently.

Source: NDTV

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