Electronics contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is to carry out a five to 10-year investment plan in India as the firm sees the nation as a large manufacturing, expansion and export base, chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said.
“We have the expertise in hardware manufacturing and India has a lot of talented software and technology engineers... We can work together on software and hardware integration projects, creating jobs and making a contribution,” Gou told a press conference in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday night.
Gou said Hon Hai, a smartphone assembler for Apple Inc and Xiaomi Inc (小米), plans not only to assemble products in India, but also to invest in high technology and to export products from the nation.
The Taiwanese tycoon said he was encouraged to invest in the nation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), plans to produce smartphones, TVs, precision machines, batteries, data centers, storage solutions and switch routers in India, Gou said, adding that the firm would seek local partners to invest in different sectors.
Apart from investing in Indian e-commerce company Snapdeal, Hon Hai has also partnered with the nation’s second-largest mobile phone vendor, Micromax, and refurbished goods online shopping site Greendust, he said.
“A few hundred of Hon Hai’s business unit leaders have visited India several times recently to assess the investment environment, but we have not finalized the details of the investments,” Gou said.
Gou was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that Hon Hai is prepared to invest about US$2 billion in India on technology projects over the next 10 years.
While Gou said the company is very keen to invest in India, it has not finalized the details as the firm is “a little bit” concerned about logistics, supply chains, infrastructure, power supply and bureaucracy.
Hon Hai could build as many as 12 plants in India, as long as land and electricity supply problems are being solved, which are the key factors for the firm to decide the locations of its manufacturing plants, Gou added.
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