Foxconn expands in Sriperumbudur, takes 20-acre land for new hostel

State industrial promotion group and Tata Electronics making investments for expanding in the region too

Taiwan’s Foxconn, iPhone-maker Apple’s contract manufacturer, has acquired 20 acres of land and is building a workers' hostel near its facility in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur, said sources amid reports that the American company plans tripling its smartphone production in India.

An industry source told Business Standard that Foxconn plans to increase staff at the Sriperumbudur unit from 15,000 to around 18,000 in the immediate future, amid media reports that the new hostel coming up in 18 months will serve around 60,000 workers.

The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Sipcot) is also building hostels in the Sriperumbudur region. Sources said that Tata Electronics, which is working with Apple to design and manufacture mechanical parts for iPhone, is hiring 8,000 people for its facility near Hosur, which is some five hours away west from Sriperumbudur.

Foxconn recently announced it will put $500 million in its India unit to expand production.

“We know that the plan by Foxconn is to expand as there was a $500 million infusion. Sipcot is constructing a set of hostels in the area. Foxconn has also picked up 20 acre land in the area, which hints at massive expansion of the existing facility,” said a source aware of the development. Foxconn did not respond to questions from Business Standard.

In September, Taiwan’s Pegatron became the third Apple vendor (after Foxconn and Wistron) to set up a manufacturing unit in India by inaugurating a facility at Mahindra World City in Chennai. Pegatron will invest around Rs 1,100 crore in the unit, potentially generating around 14,000 jobs.

A report by JP Morgan said recently that Apple, to diversify production, is considering making 25 per cent of its handsets in India by 2025 and shifting 5 per cent of global production of the iPhone 14 to the country by the end of 2022.

As manufacturing expands, component suppliers too are expected to raise their presence in India. A source said that Tata Electronics' hiring plan will strengthen its workforce in Hosur. “They are supposed to hire around 15,000 to 16,000 people and are continuously on a hiring mode”.

Tamil Nadu contributes to around 20 per cent of the country’s electronics manufacturing. Major players in the state include Samsung, Foxconn, Tata Electronics, and Dell among major investors.