Meanwhile, the Gujarat government is holding talks with
Foxconn over a semiconductor plant, a top government official told Reuters,
days after the Taiwanese giant broke off a joint-venture plan with Vedanta.
"We are in touch with multiple prospective investors,
including Foxconn ... Gujarat is uniquely positioned to attract top
chipmakers," said Vijay Nehra, secretary of the science and technology
department in Gujarat. Foxconn this week exited its project with Vedanta, which
was also planned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat,
citing issues such as slow progress.
The breakup of the JV was a setback for PM Modi's vision to
establish India as a semiconductor manufacturing hub. However, Foxconn said
later it would apply for India chip incentives on its own and was exploring new
partners. Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters
is first to report its talks with Gujarat. PM Modi wants to make chipmaking a
top priority in pursuit of a "new era" in electronics manufacturing,
but his plan has so far floundered.
Three companies applied for incentives last year – the Vedanta-Foxconn
JV, Singapore-based IGSS Ventures and global consortium ISMC, which counts
Tower Semiconductor as a tech partner — but so far no deal has been sealed.
Explaining the Vedanta split on Tuesday, Foxconn 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 giving more details.
V. Lee, Foxconn's representative in India, wrote on
LinkedIn: "Sometimes, you will fly higher when in solo." Its talks
with Gujarat come weeks after Micron said it will invest up to $825 million in a semiconductor testing and packaging
facility in the state. © Reuters