Foxconn to make 4G smartphones at Navi Mumbai from March

Taiwanese manufacturer acquires 200,000 sq ft on sub lease in Navi Mumbai

The official said the company was yet to formally apply for allotment of 1,500 acres for its manufacturing and research and development.

Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer, will produce smartphones from its Navi Mumbai manufacturing facility from March, said an official of the state government's industries department.

It had told them, the official said, that these fourth-generation (4G) technology devices would be for Reliance Jio (commercially launching its service in April) and for Chinese phone maker Xiaomi, an existing customer.

 

Foxconn has taken 200,000 sq ft on a sub-lease in Navi Mumbai's information technology & IT-enabled services zone.

This will be its first firm project in Maharashtra since the commitment last August by flamboyant founder Terry Gou of investing Rs 33,300 crore to set up electronic manufacturing facilities in the state.

The official said the company was yet to formally apply for allotment of 1,500 acres for its manufacturing and research and development. The company had eyed land at Khopoli in Raigad district and Chakan-Talegaon in Pune district.

''Senior executives are expected to soon meet with officials of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. MIDC will notify the necessary land after it receives Foxconn's proposal,'' the official added.

Typically, Foxconn and rival global electronic contract manufacturers such as Jabil, Flex and Sanmina follow their clients in setting up factories.

Foxconn had a factory to make Nokia phones on Chennai's outskirts, close to the Finnish mobile maker unit. When Nokia shut its operations after Microsoft bought the company, so did Foxconn. Later, it set up a unit at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, where it makes phones for Chinese phone makers Xiaomi, One Plus and Asus. These companies are manufacturing smartphones to meet the growing demand in India. Also, making in India brings down the cost of smartphones by 10-12 per cent.

-- with inputs from Raghu Krishnan