On Monday, July 10, Taiwan’s Foxconn said that it has withdrawn from a $19.5 billion joint venture with Vedanta, the Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate This has become a setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chipmaking plans for India. Nevertheless, Foxconn has not come clean on why it took this decision.
It was last year that Foxconn and Vedanta had signed a pact to set up semiconductor and display production plants in Gujarat, the PM’s home state. In a statement released, Foxconn said, ‘Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta. Foxconn is working to remove the Foxconn name from what now is a fully-owned entity of Vedanta.’
This step by Foxconn comes as a big blow to the plans envisioned by PM Modi, wherein chipmaking has been made a top priority for India’s economic strategy, to lead to a ‘new era’ in electronics manufacturing, by attracting foreign investors to make chips locally for the first time.
Vedanta is yet to make a comment on the matter.
