The economic liberalization in 1991 marked a turning point in India’s history. The rise of Infosys and TCS catalysed a transformative shift that positioned India as a global leader in the services sector.
More than three decades later, the world is standing at the cusp of a change. Having reaped the benefits of riding the IT services revolution, India now wants to cash in on the manufacturing wave to set the stage for its next evolution as a “product-led economy”.
However, the push for manufacturing is nothing new and has been in the works for nearly a decade now. In September 2014, just three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office for the first time, the union government unveiled the mega “Make in India” campaign, which encouraged both domestic and global companies to invest in manufacturing in India.
What followed was both the Center and the state governments rolling out red carpets for global titans to establish their manufacturing bases in the country. This was done by offering sops and production-linked incentives (PLIs) with an aim to create jobs, localize the supply chains of various products, and bring in cutting-edge technology to the country.
The ‘China plus one strategy’ adopted by global tech giants and manufacturing powerhouses, looking to trim their overdependence on one country, has further positioned India as a manufacturing hub.
So, what has been the impact of this decade-long push for manufacturing? As per reports, India emerged as the second-largest maker of mobile phones in the world.
While Samsung has established its biggest mobile manufacturing plant in Noida, big tech major Apple has brought its entire ecosystem of vendors to the country and is making iPhones at its multiple plants in India,
India has also taken a big leap in the semiconductor space, with Micron, Tata Electronics, and CG Power setting up units in India.
With the manufacturing space in India abuzz with activities, we have collated a list of global juggernauts that set up or announced their manufacturing plans for India as part of the 11th edition of Inc42’s annual “Year in Review” series — 2024 in review,
Note: This is neither an exhaustive list nor a ranking of any kind. We have listed the companies alphabetically.
Tech Majors That Established Production Units In India
1. Google
Alphabet-owned Google first revealed its plan to manufacture Pixel smartphones in India, in partnership with global and domestic electronics manufacturers, in 2023. About a year later, the big tech major set things into motion and kicked off the production of its flagship Pixel 8. Smartphone in the country in August 2024.
The company has tied up with homegrown electronics manufacturer Dixon Technologies for the production of Pixel 8 phones.
Not stopping there, the Sundar Pichai-led company was also said to be working on manufacturing drones at a unit in Tamil Nadu, through its subsidiary Wing LLC, to capitalize on the liberalized drone policies.
2. Foxconn
Apple supplier Foxconn stepped up its game and began aggressively moving a part of its manufacturing to India in 2024. The Taiwanese electronics major kicked off discussions, many of which materialized, with multiple state governments in 2024 to acquire land and establish new facilities in the country. .
It also continued to infuse capital in the country as India emerged as the country of choice for Foxconn. For context, Foxconn chairman Young Liu, in August 2024, said that the company had till then invested $10 Bn in India, with plans afoot to invest more.
Meanwhile, it continued to ink deals with domestic players to diversify beyond producing just smartphones. It recently formed a joint venture (JV) with IT giant HCL Group to set up a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in the country.
In addition, the electronics manufacturing major, in June 2024, also revealed its plans to manufacture artificial intelligence servers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) at its facilities in India.
3. HyVision
HyVision System, a South Korea-based camera module inspection equipment supplier, sees India as an attractive proposition for setting up a unit. In July, the company signed an agreement with the Karnataka government to set up a camera inspection machine plant in the state.
The company, which caters to giants such as Apple, Tesla, Hyundai and Kia, specializes in image processing, signal processing and motion control. It supplies camera modules and ToF/ lidar inspection system, vision inspection, AOI, secondary battery and smart components.
4. Jabil
The year 2024 saw another vendor from Apple’s supply chain ecosystem, Jabil, bolster its presence in India. The US-based company plans to invest INR 2,000 Cr to build a manufacturing facility in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.
Additionally, Jabil is mulling setting up two more electronics manufacturing units in India over the next three to four years with an additional investment of $250-$275 Mn.
Jabil produces iPhones and AirPod components in India and is looking to expand into manufacturing plastic casings for chargers, some older iPhone models, AirPods, and even some components for Apple watches and Mac.
Currently, Jabil has two manufacturing units in Pune that make WiFi, NFC (near field technology), RFID (radio frequency identification technology), camera optics, and some other power electronics.
Its new plant in Tamil Nadu is expected to generate 5,000 jobs and create a new cluster for electronics manufacturing in the state.
5. Analog Devices
While most global giants are exploring India as a potential avenue for smartphone production and assembly, the US-based Analog Devices has partnered with Tata Group to make semiconductor chips in the country.
As part of the deal, Tata Electronics will manufacture Analog Devices’ products at its upcoming semiconductor fab plant in Gujarat, which is expected to commence production by 2026, as well as at its outsourced semiconductor manufacturing and assembly test (OSAT) facility in Assam.
Not just this, Analog Devices also plans to integrate its products with Tata’s range of electric vehicles as well as in Tejas Networks’ telecom infrastructure. Furthermore, Tata Motors is also exploring a JV with Analog Devices to manufacture electronics hardware components for energy storage solutions and power electronics in both commercial and passenger vehicle segments.
6. Asus
After the Center instituted an IT hardware import authorization regime last year, a slew of global original equipment manufacturers (OEM) made a beeline for India in 2024. One of these companies was Taiwan-based hardware major Asus.
Earlier this year, Asus signed a pact with Dixon Technologies’ wholly-owned subsidiary Padget Electronics to manufacture notebooks under the PLI 2.0 scheme for IT hardware products. The unit will produce 2 Mn Asus laptops a year.
7. HP India
US-based IT hardware company HP’s India arm also partnered with Padget Electronics to manufacture personal computers (PCs) and laptops in India.
HP India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company in September 2024. The deal will enable HP India to leverage the PLI 2.0 scheme to shore up the domestic production of its products.
HP previously partnered with Google to Manufacture Chromebooks in India at its Flex Facility, near Chennai, in 2023.
It is pertinent to note that HP has been manufacturing a range of laptops and desktops, including HP EliteBooks, and HP ProBooks, among others, at its Chennai facility since 2020.
Meanwhile, the year 2024 also saw the likes of Xiaomi move a part of their production to India to capitalize on PLI schemes, while Oppo and Vivo too have made no qualms about manufacturing their devices in the country.
That said, all eyes will now be on whether this momentum can continue and pave the way for India emerging as a product-led economy.