Apple supplier Foxconn buys 300-acre land in Bengaluru

Foxconn's India subsidiary has acquired a 300-acre land parcel on the outskirts of India's tech capital Bengaluru as the Apple supplier looks to ramp up the production of iPhones.

The Taiwanese electronics major has bought 1.2 million square metres of land in Devanahalli, near the airport, it says in a filing with the London Stock Exchange.

Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development will pay ₹300 crore for the land parcel, the filing says.

This comes weeks after the Karnataka government approved an ₹8,000 crore proposal by Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit near Bengaluru. The proposal was approved in the State High-Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) meeting chaired by chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.

"Apple phones to be built in the state soon. Apart from creating about 1 lakh jobs, it will create a whole lot of opportunities for Karnataka," Bommai tweeted in March. Prior to this, Foxconn chairman Young Liu had visited Karnataka to "deepen partnerships".

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd is looking to invest about $700 million on its new plant, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

Foxconn currently manufactures Apple's iPhones at its factory in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Other two Taiwanese companies Wistron and Pegatron also assemble iPhones in India. Wistron manufactures Apple devices at its Hosur facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.

The Foxconn land deal comes at a time when tech giant Apple is looking to convince India's growing middle class to switch to iPhones. In a conference call after the Cupertino, California-based company unveiled its March quarter earnings, chief executive officer Tim Cook said Apple grew in 'very strong' double digits in India.

"Looking at the business in India, we did set a quarterly record, grew very strong, double digits year-over-year," the Apple CEO said, adding that there are a lot of people coming into the middle class in India.

"I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it's great to be there," he said.

In April, Cook opened the iPhone maker's first two stores in India – Apple Saket in Delhi and Apple BKC in Mumbai.

According to Cook, Apple has been expanding its operations in India to serve more customers. "India is an incredibly exciting market. It's a major focus for us," he said.

While responding to a question comparing Apple's business in India with China, Cook said that each country is different and has its own journey. "I hesitate to compare too much. But what I do see in India is a lot of people entering the middle class, and I'm hopeful that we can convince some number of them to buy an iPhone and we'll see how that works out. But right now, it's working out well," he said.