Foxconn To Apply For Chipmaking Incentives In India Following $19.5 Billion JV Pull-Out

Foxconn withdrew from its semiconductor JV with Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta on Monday

Foxconn said that it is confident about the direction of India’s semiconductor development.

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A day after Taiwanese firm Foxconn parted ways with Vedanta Ltd on a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture (JV), the company on Tuesday said it plans to apply for incentives that India is offering under its chip manufacturing policy, a Reuters report said. "Foxconn is committed to India and sees the country successfully establishing a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem," the company said. "Foxconn is working toward submitting an application," the report said.

Foxconn withdrew from its semiconductor JV with Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta on Monday. The chip manufacturer on Tuesday said "there was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough" and there were other "challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome", without sharing details. "This is not a negative," Foxconn stated in a statement.

According to Reuters, Foxconn's Taipei listed shares closed up 0.5 per cent on Tuesday, underperforming the broader market which ended up 1.5 per cent. Vedanta Ltd shares fell as much as 2.6 per cent in Mumbai, before paring some losses.

Foxconn in a statement on Monday said, "Foxconn is working to remove the Foxconn name from what now is a fully-owned entity of Vedanta. Foxconn has no connection to the entity and efforts to keep its original name will cause confusion for future stakeholders." However, the project was proceeding slowly as talks to rope in European chipmaker STMicroelectronics as a partner got deadlocked, Reuters reported last month.

The Taiwanese firm is confident about the direction of India's semiconductor development. "We will continue to strongly support the government’s "Make In India” ambitions and establish a diversity of local partnerships that meet the needs of stakeholders," it added.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said Foxconn's decision to withdraw from its JV with Vedanta has no impact on the country's semiconductor fabrication goals. Even as Foxconn has pulled out of the JV, Indian conglomerate Vedanta has said that it is fully committed to its semiconductor fab project. Taiwan's Foxconn is a key contract manufacturer of Apple iPhones and the world's largest too. Foxconn-Vedanta had jointly announced setting up India's first electronic chipset manufacturing plant in Gujarat.