Maharashtra to allot land for $22 bn Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project
28 Jul 2022
Maharashtra cabinet is reported to have decided to allot land required for the $22 billion semiconductor and display fabrication project proposed to be jointly implemented by mining and natural resources group Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn.
The report comes a day after senior officials of Vedanta and Foxconn called on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at Mantralaya on Tuesday.
“We are bringing a proposal before the state cabinet on Wednesday to facilitate investment of Vedanta-Foxconn in Maharashtra. They will bring an investment of over Rs1,58,000 crore in the state," an Indian Express report quoted state's additional chief secretary (industries) Baldev Singh as saying.
“Vedanta Electronics and Foxconn delegation called on Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mantralaya, this afternoon, to discuss joint venture Vedanta semiconductor and display fabrication city project," deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.
“AvanStrate Global MD Akarsh K Hebbar, various Foxconn state leadership and investor teams, MIDC and GoM officials were present," he added in another tweet.
AvanStrate is a subsidiary of Anil Aggarwal led Vedanta group.
“Vedanta is in active discussion with the government of Maharashtra for their proposed manufacturing facility for semi-conductors and display fabs. With a high concentration of skilled manpower, connectivity to the port, seamless domestic supply-chain and highly developed industrial infrastructure, Talegaon in Pune has emerged as a prominent option for Vedanta and Foxconn for their $22 billion investment that can generate more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs," the report quoted a press note issued by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) as saying.
Earlier, in February this year, Foxconn and Vedanta entered into a joint venture chaired by Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, where Vedanta will hold 60 per cent.
Vedanta group plans to invest up to $15 billion over 5-10 years to make displays and semiconductor chips in India, Group chairman Anil Agarwal said early this year.
Separately, Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, had earlier, in 2015, decided not to go ahead with its commitment to invest around $5 billion (over ?35,000 crore) in the state to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit and allied facilities.
The project, which was expected to create 50,000 jobs, was scrapped in 2020 deal could not be carried out owing to Foxconn’s internal dispute with Apple Inc.
The investment commitment made by Foxconn is not coming through, Subhash Desai, industries minister in the previous Maharashtra government said early in January this year. It will not happen in the future as well. “While they had taken up land near Navi Mumbai to set up initial facilities, it seems like multiple factors have led to their exit from Maharashtra,” he said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Ltd, trading as Foxconn Technology Group, is a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company with its headquarters in Tucheng, New Taipei, Taiwan. Today, it is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and the fourth-largest information technology company by revenue. The company is the largest private employer in Taiwan and one of the largest employers worldwide.
Foxconn manufactures electronic products for major American, Canadian, Chinese, Finnish and Japanese companies. Notable products manufactured by Foxconn include the BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kindle, Nintendo 3DS, Nokia devices, Xiaomi devices, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Xbox One. As of 2012, Foxconn factories manufactured an estimated 40 of all consumer electronics sold worldwide.