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Investing.com-- Apple’s key supplier- Hon Hai Precision Industry (TW:2317), also known as Foxconn- is proceeding with a major expansion in India despite demands from President Donald Trump to return manufacturing to the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Foxconn– which has assembled Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices for years- is set to build a $1.5 billion display module facility in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the FT report said, citing comments from two government officials.
{{0|Foxconn} } had earlier this week said it will invest $1.5 billion in its Indian subsidiary.
This comes after the Indian government approved Foxconn’s plans for a $450 million chip assembly plant in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
While Apple still manufactures a bulk of its devices in China, India has emerged as a growing alternative manufacturing hub for the tech giant. It also manufactures devices in Vietnam and Malaysia.
The company was recently seen outlining plans to shift more iPhone production to India, with the FT reporting that all iPhones sold in the U.S. will eventually come from India, due to Trump’s steep tariffs on China.
But Trump has rebuked Apple’s plans to shift production to India, instead calling on CEO Tim Cook to bring more production back to the United States.
“We are not interested in you building in India,” Trump told Cook last week.
Apple has faced heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration, given that its supply chain is heavily geared towards China, which is also a major market for the tech giant.
A recent report said that Trump was also scrutinizing Apple’s partnership with Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) to put the latter’s artificial intelligence models on iPhones sold in China.