With an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, Jabil, an American multinational contract maker for Apple, would establish an electronics manufacturing facility in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, generating employment for 5,000 people. After Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata Electronics, the state is expected to acquire its fourth Apple supplier with this acquisition.
Jabil is a significant supplier to HP and Cisco as well. Jabil started producing the plastic bodies of AirPods for Apple earlier this year in India. China and Vietnam are Jabil’s top export markets from India.
About 2,500 people work at its 858,000 square foot plant in Pune. According to the media reports, Tuesday saw the completion of the agreement following CM M K Stalin’s visit to the US.
“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 the overall industrial ecosystem.
With exports to $9.56 billion in FY24, up 78% from $5.37 billion in FY23, the state is currently the leading exporter of electronics in India, far ahead of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
Tamil Nadu’s electronics exports have increased recently, mostly as a result of the increase in iPhone exports.
Industry analysts believe that one of the main causes of the increase in exports is the China-Plus-One strategy that multinational corporations like Apple implemented. Following this, suppliers like Salcomp and contractors like Foxconn and Pegatron helped Tamil Nadu become the nation’s center for electronics manufacturing last year.
China-Plus-One is a global business strategy that was introduced in 2013. It involves corporations diversifying their operations to other locations rather than investing exclusively in China.
Apple’s first four months of the current fiscal year saw phone exports of Rs 34,089 crore. With the “Made in India for the World” campaign, Apple is attempting to move a sizable percentage of its supply chain to India, but it is also attempting to grow its home market.
The company’s domestic market was estimated to be worth Rs 67,000 crore in 2023–2024.
