“Actively reviewing partners”: chipmaker Foxconn says committed to investments in India

New Delhi [India], July 11 : A day after it withdrew from its joint venture with India’s Vedanta group, Taiwan-based technology company Foxconn said it is committed to India and sees the country successfully establishing a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Limited and Taiwan's Foxconn in September 2022 had signed MoUs with the Gujarat government for setting up a semiconductor and display manufacturing unit in the state with an investment of over Rs 1.54 lakh crore. They also signed a joint venture then.
“The Group looks forward to growing alongside India’s nascent semiconductor industry,” said Foxconn in a statement, with assertion that it will take time.
Foxconn first entered India in 2006 and it still has operations in the country.
Foxconn said it has sound channels of communications with government stakeholders across India, and “we have been consistent and clear with them at all levels about our continued commitment to invest in India.”
On withdrawal from the JV with Vedanta, it said both parties “mutually agreed to part ways” and noted there was recognition that the project was not moving fast enough.
“Both parties mutually agreed to part ways. This is not a negative. There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough, there were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project.”
On media reports which stated that Foxconn parting ways from the JV pact was a “negative example” for the Taiwanese company’s investment integrity, it categorically denied saying that it was “absolutely not the case”.
“When Foxconn course corrects, it is done only after heavy considerations on the near-term impact to our stakeholders, and on the long-term corporate health to the Group and our shareholders,” it explained.
Notably, it also went on to say that building fabrication plants from scratch in a new geography is a challenge, but it is committed to invest in India.
“We have been working on challenges like this since the 1980s. Foxconn has no intention to do anything but continue to strongly support the government’s “Make In India” ambitions and establish a diversity of local partnerships that meet the needs of stakeholders.”
With regards to possible losses related to the joint venture with Vedanta, it said “no” and added Foxconn has not injected capital or fixed assets into the joint venture.
With the deal with Vedanta which now stands withdrawn, Foxconn said it is working towards submitting an application related to the “Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem.”
“We have been actively reviewing the landscape for optimal partners. 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,” the statement concluded, adding it was unable to disclose more information at this time.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that the withdrawal from the JV has no impact on India's semiconductor fabrication goals.
"This decision of Foxconn to withdraw from its JV with Vedanta has no impact on India's Semiconductor Fab goals. None," Chandrasekhar said in a tweet on Monday.