- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The announcement made by Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn that it is committed to setting up a manufacturing unit in Kongara Kalan in the southern state of Telangana has raised eyebrows as the company chose Telangana over its neighbour Karnataka for the facility.
In a letter addressed to K Chandrasekhar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana, Foxconn Technology Group chairman Young Liu confirmed his company’s commitment to the manufacturing unit in that state, its chief minister’s office (CMO) said, ETNow reported.
Lui also sought the support of the state, India’s newest one, in operationalising the Kongar Kalan Park, located about 30 kilometres southeast of state capital Hyderabad, at the earliest.
“This clears the doubts that Foxconn was in a dilemma of whether it would set up the manufacturing facility in Telangana or not,” the release said.
“As discussed with you (Telangana CM) during our meeting on March 2, Foxconn is committed to setting up a manufacturing facility in Kongara Kalan and I seek the support of your team in operationlising the Kongara Kalan park as early as possible,” the letter read, according to the ETNow report.
Foxconn’s decision also delivers a blow to Karnataka, which is set to go to polls soon. The state had offered the Taiwanese major several incentives, including those related to tax, and land package, to persuade it to set up its plant in the state. The efforts went in vain at the end as Foxconn decided to go to Telangana.
Reports speculate that lower labour expenses and better infrastructure in Telangana could have influenced Foxconn’s decision.
Earlier, Foxconn said it would be in close contact with Karnataka to take its electronic manufacturing project on the outskirts of state capital Bengaluru, which is also India’s information technology capital, forward, pledging its commitment to work on the memorandum of understanding it inked with the state on Friday (3).
Liu also penned a two-page letter to Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai saying he would “ensure successful grounding of the “Project Elephant” in Bengaluru,” to clear uncertainty brought on by the business’s earlier claim that last week’s agreement was not “definitive”.
In September last year, Gujarat beat Maharashtra as the preferred destination for a new Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor and display manufacturing unit worth about Rs 1.54 lakh crore (£15.8 billion), causing a huge uproar in Maharashtra.
