Taiwan's Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, has announced that it will partner with Indian multinational information technology consulting company HCL Group to establish a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in India.
The plan is to set up an outsourced assembly and testing (OSAT) unit in an as yet undisclosed location. An OSAT plant packages, assembles and tests foundry-made silicon wafers, turning them into finished semiconductor chips.
Reuters refers to a regulatory filing from Foxconn which says that its India unit will own a 40% stake in the joint venture with a US$37.2 million investment. The level of HCL’s financial involvement has not yet been announced.
Foxconn has a number of plans for India already, including major investments in Karnataka to make casing components for iPhones and chip-making equipment.
The Taiwanese firm, however, had a difficult start to an earlier semiconductor initiative in India last year. As we reported at the time, in July 2023 Foxconn withdrew from a U$19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Indian conglomerate Vedanta.
The two companies agreed in 2022 to set up semiconductor and display production plants in Gujarat. Foxconn said it had worked with Vedanta for more than a year on the initiative, but the would-be partners decided to end the joint venture for reasons that were not disclosed at the time. The venture is now fully owned by Vedanta.
