Apple's Foxconn to create 100,000 jobs in Karnataka

Apple plans to move its iPhone plant from China to India. The Cupertino giant plans to invest in a new iPhone plant in Karnataka, India and plans to invest around $700 million. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, has confirmed that Apple's new plant will be built on a 300-acre factory in Karnataka. Basavaraj Bommai, Karnataka CM, added that the new plant would create 100,000 jobs in India.

"Apple phones to be built in a new 300-acre factory in Karnataka, Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted. "Apple phones to be built in the state soon. Apart from creating about 100,000 jobs, it will create a whole lot of opportunities for Karnataka. Under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble PM @narendramodi Ji, we will do our share to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025," Basavaraj S Bomma, CM of Karnataka, tweeted.

According to a Bloomberg report, Foxconn plans to build a factory in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka in southern India, on a 300-acre site near the airport. The factory is meant to make iPhone parts, and some experts say it can also assemble Apple phones. Foxconn may also use the same site to make components for its new electric vehicle business. Apple has not provided any statement in this regard.

Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu, who visited India, did not yet confirm the installation of a plant in India but said, "My trip this week supported Foxconn's efforts to deepen partnerships, meet old friends and make new ones, and seek cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles. Foxconn will continue to communicate with local governments to seek the most beneficial development opportunities for the company and all stakeholders."

The proposed iPhone factory in India will create some 100,000 jobs. Currently, the iPhone assembly complex in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou employs 200,000 employees.

In November 2022, factory workers in China complained about harsh working conditions. More than 20,000 employees, including new hires, reportedly left the manufacturer a day after violent protests broke out at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant in China. The workers had expressed discontent with the working conditions, which later turned into protests recently. To quell the protests, Foxconn offered to pay the newly hired workers 10,000 yuan ($1,400) to leave the facility.