Foxconn, Apple’s most sensible iPhone assembler and supplier with core operations in China, has pulled out of a $19. 5 billion semiconductor joint venture deal with Indian conglomerate Vedanta.
The JV assignment to produce semiconductors and demonstrate parts in Gujrat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was signed in September last year. Foxconn reportedly said the resolution to withdraw from the deal was a mutual agreement.
Meanwhile, Foxconn said it remains confident in India’s semiconductor ambitions and is in talks with several Indian partners to advance semiconductor production projects in the country.
When the deal was announced last year, Foxconn and Vedanta agreed to invest about $20 billion in Gujrat to install semiconductors and demonstrate production plants. Foxconn to bring its technical expertise to the company, while Vedanta agreed to fund the project.
The Taiwanese company, which is pulling some chains of origin from China amid rising tensions between the U. S. and China. In the U. S. and China, it has already started building several factories across India, adding one in Telangana and in the state of Karnataka.
Foxconn recently announced plans to move into electric vehicle production and said it sees electric cars as the next expansion targets. The company also reportedly has plans to set up an electric vehicle production plant in India.
The company already makes iPhones at its factory in Sriperumbudur, outside Chennai, India.
Foxconn operates the world’s largest iPhone factory in the city of Zhengzhou, called iPhone City. The main factory was severely affected last year by workers’ unrest following the spread of Covid-19 and similar restrictions.
In late June, Foxconn and auto company Stellantis N. V. announced they formed a 50/50 joint venture called SiliconAuto, to design and sell semiconductors for the automotive industry, adding Stellantis, in 2026.