Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Foxconn chief set to open industrial housing hub on Saturday

Foxconn chairman Young Liu is expected to visit Tamil Nadu on Saturday to inaugurate a housing facility for industrial workers along with chief minister MK Stalin.

The Vallam Vadagal Industrial Housing Project for accommodating workers of Foxconn and other companies is a step towards building large-scale infrastructure in the state to fuel India's electronics manufacturing dreams. Foxconn's facilities in China have entire cities that come up around them.

In 2020, the Tamil Nadu government sanctioned the establishment of the industrial housing facility at a cost of Rs 706.5 crore. The project, with 3,120 units across a little over 30 acres at Sriperumbudur taluk in Kancheepuram district, is expected to accommodate around 18,720 workers.


ET had reported in June that there were multiple industrial housing projects in various stages that were being spearheaded by the Tamil Nadu government. The Sriperumbudur project is the largest, but there are smaller projects. For instance, there is an industrial housing project in Shoolagiri in Krishnagiri district which is going to be tendered, a person in the know said. This is about 30 km from Tata Electronics’ facility.

On Thursday, union minister of commerce & industry Piyush Goyal posted on microblogging site X that he met Liu and discussed the Taiwanese group's expansion and investment plans in India. "Discussed Modi Government’s focus on leveraging India’s unique mix of talent & resources to boost domestic value addition and helping penetrate global supply chains," Goyal wrote.

This marks Liu's second visit in almost a year, signalling the company's increased focus on India, in line with client Apple's diversification away from China. ET had reported that the contract manufacturer was not only evaluating starting iPad manufacturing in India, but also looking at new product segments like AI servers and even making Pixel smartphones in the state.

In February, Foxconn in an exchange filing said its Indian subsidiary would spend Rs 1,200 crore to build a factory that would come up on company-owned land. It is also building a factory outside Bengaluru, which is expected to primarily make iPhones.

The Taiwanese giant also announced that it would invest $37.2 million and join hands with the HCL Group to establish a chip-packaging and testing facility in India. The announcement came after its joint venture with the Vedanta Group fell through.