Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn withdrew from a $19.4 billion deal with India’s Vedanta to make semiconductors in the South Asian nation owing to “challenging gaps”, it announced Tuesday.
The world’s top iPhone assembler signed an agreement in September with Vedanta to set up a chip factory — which would also produce display screens for phones and tablets — in India’s Gujarat state.
The plan was to boost New Delhi’s self-reliance in the technology supply chain, given that semiconductors are an essential component of nearly all modern electronics — powering everything from coffee machines to electric cars.
But Foxconn on Thursday said “both parties mutually agreed to part ways”.
“There was recognition on both sides that the project was not moving fast enough, there were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project,” Hon Hai Technology Group — Foxconn’s official name — said in a statement.
The deal would have seen Vedanta — one of India’s biggest mining companies — take a 60 percent share in the joint venture, while Foxconn would have the minority stake.
Both companies had also projected that the facilities would be operational by 2024.
Foxconn will not make a loss because of the withdrawal as it “has not injected capital or fixed assets into the” joint venture, the statement said.
While Vedanta did not confirm the pull-out, it reiterated that it is “fully committed to its semiconductor fab project”, adding that there are other partners in line to set up India’s first foundry.
“Vedanta has redoubled its efforts to fulfill (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s) vision for semiconductors and India remains pivotal in repositioning global semiconductor supply chains,” its spokesperson said, adding that Vedanta now has a licence for production-grade technology to create 40-nanometer chips.
“We will shortly acquire a licence for production-grade 28 nm as well.”
The vast majority of the world’s top chips are made in Taiwan — primarily by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — and in South Korea by Samsung.
To join the race for semiconductors, India in late 2021 approved a $10 billion incentive scheme to kickstart its own domestic industry by agreeing to cover up to half of all project costs.
Breaking News
-
Typhoon Bebinca lashes Shanghai with strong winds and torrential rains, forcing flights to…
-
US guitarist and singer Tito Jackson, an original member of the legendary…
-
In the heart of the East Malian city of Gao stands the Tomb…
-
Liverpool's perfect start under Arne Slot came to a stunning end as Nottingham Forest won…
-
At a low, squat building in Springfield, Ohio, housing a Haitian community center, the FBI…
-
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first ever…
-
Italian prosecutors requested on Saturday a six-year prison sentence for Matteo Salvini, Italy's far-right deputy…
-
Persecution of bereaved relatives. Impunity for perpetrators. Rampant executions and infighting among the opposition.A bleak…
-
Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in Venezuela on suspicion of…
-
The Israeli military said a missile fired from Yemen crossed into central Israel on Sunday…