The Tata Group has decided to set up an electronics component manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu, at an outlay of about Rs 5,000 crore, a state government official said.
The official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS that the proposed unit will be making electronics components for consumer durables.
The Hindu Business Line reported on Wednesday that Tata’s will use this unit to manufacture components for Apple, as the iPhone maker looks to go beyond China for sourcing. This plant could be in addition to the Foxconn facility that makes iPhones in in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.
The unit will be set up in Krishnagiri district near Hosur and the 'bhoomi puja' was done on Tuesday.
The unit will be located on about 500 acres.
According to the official, the Tatas plant will be set up in GMR Krishnagiri SIR (Special Investment Region), a joint venture between with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and the GMR Group.
The investment could reportedly be scaled up to Rs 8,000 crore depending on the level of sourcing from the facility and is likely to have 18,000 workers by October 2021.
HBL also reported that Titan Engineering and Automation Ltd (TEAL), which is the precision engineering division of the company will offer expertise.
According to the Coimbatore-based GKD Institute for Technological Resources (GKDITR), the Tata Group is coming up with a brand-new manufacturing company in Hosur and wants to make it a 90 per cent all women's company.
The Tata group company will start making precision mechanical parts for the electronics industry and plans to recruit 18,000 associates by 2021, GKDITR has said on its website.
The HBL report also states that other leading manufacturers of smartphones such as Wistron and Pegatron are also looking to invest in Tamil Nadu, as companies look for alternative manufacturing bases, in a bid to diversify beyond China.