Foxconn to start manufacturing phones at Mumbai plant from August

MUMBAI: iPhone maker Foxconn is likely to begin manufacturing mobile phones from its second India factory near here from next month.

Taiwan-based Foxconn, which makes iPhone, iPad and other Apple products, will initially make mobile phones at a 2 lakh square feet facility in Navi Mumbai and later laptops and computers, said Apurva Chandra, Principal Secretary - Industries, Maharashtra government.

"Foxconn has taken a rented premise in Navi Mumbai. They have taken 2 lakh square feet. They have (set up) their mobile manufacturing facility (there). And probably, as we are told, first week of August they are going to launch mobiles from this facility," he told here.

The rented premise is a temporary facility and the company is looking at 1,200 acres of land in Maharashtra for a new multi-billion dollar factory.

Foxconn had recently announced plans to make India a key global manufacturing hub for servicing markets across Africa and West Asia.


Chandra said Foxconn has indicated plans to start with manufacturing mobile phones and later laptops and computers.

"Mobile manufacturing will begin in August... then they are going to manufacture laptops and computers," he said adding a mobile assembly can be set up in 6-8 months.

Foxconn had last year started assembling smartphones for Chinese firm Xiaomi at its facility in Sri City, an industrial park in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

In August last year, Foxconn Chairman and CEO Terry Gou announced plans to invest in India across verticals like manufacturing, startups, energy and e-commerce portals and was also looking at bringing supply chain companies and major technologies.

He had then said that Foxconn may build as many as 12 factories in India by 2020 to manufacture LED TVs, batteries and other electronics products. It has been looking at potential sites in Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.


Foxconn currently manufactures in Chinese factories. Plans to set up manufacturing units in India, the nation with second-highest number of mobile phone accounts behind China, are seen as move to mitigate rising labour costs in China and lower manufacturing cost of iPhones.

Last year, Adani Group had stated that it was in talks with Foxconn to form a joint venture. This joint venture could be for manufacturing iPhones in India at Adani's SEZ in Mundra, Gujarat.

The Taiwan-based firm, which manufactures for a host of global device brands like Apple, BlackBerry, Amazon, Motorola, Xiaomi and Sony, has the bulk of its factories in China.

But it also has plants in Asia, Europe, Brazil and Mexico which together assemble about 40 per cent of all consumer electronics products sold globally. It has 12 factories in nine Chinese cities, the most in any country.