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In recent times, Tamil Nadu has seen a spike in electronics exports, primarily due to the rise in iPhone exports | (Photo: Shutterstock)
Jabil Inc, an American multinational contract manufacturer for Apple, will set up an electronics manufacturing facility in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, creating 5,000 jobs. With this, the state is likely to get its fourth Apple supplier, after Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics.
Jabil is also a major supplier to Cisco and HP. Earlier this year, Jabil began manufacturing AirPod components—plastic bodies—for Apple in India. The major export destinations for Jabil from India are now Vietnam and China. Its 858,000 square feet facility in Pune employs around 2,500 people. The deal was finalised on Tuesday as part of Chief Minister M K Stalin’s visit to the United States.
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“A significant investment of Rs 2,000 crore at Tiruchirapalli by Jabil, a global leader in EMS. This will create 5,000 jobs and establish a new cluster for electronics manufacturing,” Stalin posted on the X platform. In addition, Rockwell Automation is expanding its manufacturing with a Rs 666 crore investment in Kanchipuram, adding 365 jobs. A memorandum of understanding was also signed with Autodesk to skill youth and boost MSMEs and startups, strengthening our overall industrial ecosystem.
In recent times, Tamil Nadu has seen a spike in electronics exports, primarily due to the rise in iPhone exports. The state is now the number one electronics exporter in India, with exports reaching $9.56 billion in FY24, up 78 per cent from $5.37 billion in FY23, and far ahead of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
According to industry experts, one of the key reasons for the rise in exports is the China-Plus-One strategy adopted by global majors like Apple, after which its contractors like Foxconn and Pegatron, and suppliers like Salcomp, contributed to the emergence of Tamil Nadu as the country’s electronics hub last year. Coined in 2013, China-Plus-One is a global business strategy where companies avoid investing solely in China and diversify their operations to alternative destinations.
Apple exported phones worth Rs 34,089 crore in the first four months of the current financial year. While Apple is trying to shift a significant portion of its supply chain to India through the ‘Make in India for the World’ initiative, it is also working to expand its domestic market. In 2023-24, the company’s domestic market was valued at Rs 67,000 crore.
First Published: Sep 10 2024 | 7:36 AM IST
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