The state government of Karnataka in southern India said on Friday that 300 acres have been set aside for the construction of a facility where Apple Inc.’s iPhones will soon be built.
Bloomberg News has previously reported that Foxconn Technology Group, an Apple partner, intended to spend approximately $700 million at the Karnataka facility to increase local production.
In a tweet, the state’s investment promotion office claimed that the move would result in 100,000 new jobs over the following ten years.
Requests for comment on the Bloomberg report from Apple and Foxconn were not immediately answered by Reuters.
At least three of Apple’s international partners currently assemble iPhones in India: Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu, and Wistron in Karnataka.
Apple has been moving production away from China after the nation’s stringent COVID-related restrictions disrupted the production of new iPhones and other devices there. Apple has also been doing this to avoid taking a significant financial hit from escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.
According to the commerce minister of India, Apple intends to increase the country’s contribution to its production from the current 5-7% to up to 25%. Apple started assembling iPhones in India in 2017 with Wistron Corp. and then Foxconn.
