As Foxconn-Vedanta Semi-Conductor Deal Ends, Congress Takes 'Never Trust...' Jibe At Modi Govt

NEW DELHI: As Foxconn decided to pull out of the semi-conductor joint venture with Indian conglomerate Vedanta, the Congress took a swipe at the BJP, saying "whether Gujarat Model or 'New India' never trust the manufactured headlines". The Opposition party's swipe came after Taiwan's Foxconn announced the break-up and said it is "working to remove the Foxconn name from what now is a fully-owned entity of Vedanta".

Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Remember the publicity at the time of announcing the project? Gujarat CM even claimed 1 lakh jobs will be created! This has been the fate of many MOUs signed in Vibrant Gujarat summits year after year, and will be the fate in other such copycat summits like Global Investor Summits in UP." 

In another tweet, he said, "So Foxconn-Vedanta is off. But Micron still seems to be on for semiconductor chip assembly, packaging and testing." "Micron though is putting up just 30% of the USD 2.75 billion with 50% coming from the Centre and 20% from the Gujarat Govt. By any standards this appears to be a hugely hefty subsidy to an American company," Ramesh claimed.

Foxconn has withdrawn from a USD 19.5-billion semiconductor joint venture with mining baron Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd as the venture struggled to get a technology partner to make chips that are used in mobile phones to refrigerators and cars.

In a statement, Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, said it "has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta. Agarwal's metals-to-oil conglomerate responded saying it was "fully committed to its semiconductor fab project and we have lined up other partners to set up India's first foundry. It, however, did not give details of the new partners.

This decision of Foxconn to withdraw from its JV wth Vedanta has no impact on India's #Semiconductor Fab goals. None.

Both Foxconn n Vedanta have significant investments in India and are valued investors who are creating jobs n growth.

It was well known that both… https://t.co/0DQrwXeCIr

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@Rajeev_GoI) July 10, 2023

Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn and mining behemoth Vedanta are committed to the semiconductor mission and the Make-in-India programme of the country, Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.

The comments came against the backdrop of Foxconn announcing pulling out of its semiconductor joint venture Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductors Private Limited. "Both the companies Foxconn and Vedanta are committed to India's semiconductor mission and Make in India program," Vaishnaw tweeted.