India Foxconn factory deal falls through


Foxconn, the world’s largest tech manufacturer, has pulled out from a vaunted $19.5B joint venture to build a semiconductor plant in India.

Foxconn is kinda a big deal:

  • 📱 It makes products for giants like Apple, Microsoft and IBM
  • 🧑‍🏭 It employs three quarters of a million folks worldwide, and
  • 💰 And it rakes in almost a quarter trillion in revenues each year.

The Taiwanese company didn’t say why the deal fell through, but reports suggest it’s related to delays in Indian government incentives and approvals.

Intrigue’s take: Prime Minister Modi has been looking to boost this sector for a decade, and he seemed to have the wind at his back: Foxconn was just one of many spooked firms looking at India as a way to diversify away from China.

So just as this deal’s announcement was a real head-turning moment for India last year, its cancellation will now turn heads too.

Also worth noting:

  • Prime Minister Modi launched his ‘Make in India’ initiative in 2014, aimed at boosting Indian manufacturing.
  • Foxconn’s plant was slated for possible construction in Gujarat, India’s manufacturing hub and Prime Minister Modi’s home state.
  • Foxconn already has (lower tech) factories in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Latest Author Articles
The most intriguing US bases in the Indo-Pacific

Just as we smashed that ‘send’ button yesterday, London announced a new deal to cede sovereignty of the remote Chagos Islands to Mauritius after 13 rounds of negotiations. 

4 October, 2024
This week at the UN

Ever wondered what the diplomacy equivalent of Disneyland would be? Oh, okay. Well just in case you change your mind, the answer is the UN General Assembly.

27 September, 2024
US dockworkers set to strike from Tuesday

Spooky season is upon us. And there is nothing scarier than a potential trade bottleneck right at the start of the holiday period. 

26 September, 2024
Meet the EU’s next Commission

While exploding pagers have dominated the headlines, something else big has happened. We’re talking of course about EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiling her highly-anticipated commissioner line-up. 

19 September, 2024