New Delhi: Is Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises looking at joining hands with Foxconn, one of the world’s biggest mobile phone contract manufacturer, and Japan’s SoftBank to manufacture electronic devices in India?
The proposal could see the production of iconic products like Apple’s iPhones and other electronics devices at a time when the government is looking at giving a major push to local manufacturing through duty sweeteners.
Mittal, who had pioneered the production of push-button landline phones in the country through Beetle Teletech before emerging as the biggest mobile service operator (Airtel), may be heading for a major push in the hardware business again if indications are anything to go by.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of the Japanese internet and telecom giant SoftBank, hinted that a mega announcement on this front could be made soon, and the project could be headed by Foxconn.
His closeness to Mittal, with whom he now has three major ventures in the country, may draw the Indian telecom czar in the future plans on the manufacturing front, sources said.
To a query by TOI, Son said that he wants to play a major role in the government’s ‘Make in India’ pitch initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For this, he envisages a role for the three companies, led by Foxconn. However, he refused to share further details.
Apple is among the biggest clients for Taiwan’s Foxconn — the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry. Representatives from the Indian telecom and IT industry are already in touch with Foxconn and the company is also understood to have taken its own initiatives for setting up manufacturing units in the country. Foxconn was forced to close down its operations in India last year after Nokia shut its plant.
