Gandhinagar: Taiwan’s Foxconn withdrew its $19.5 billion joint venture with Vedanta Ltd on Monday, which aimed to manufacture semiconductors in India. Today, the chipmaker released a statement stating that the company is working towards another program for the Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem and is looking for optimal partners.

Here is what Foxconn said:

Why did Foxconn and Vedanta part ways?

Both parties mutually agreed to part ways. This is not a negative. There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough, there were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project.

We have seen some media reports portraying Foxconn’s withdrawal from the joint venture with Vedanta as a negative example of the Group’s investment integrity. That is absolutely not the case. When Foxconn course corrects, it is done only after heavy considerations on the near-term impact to our stakeholders, and on the long-term corporate health to the
Group and our shareholders.

Building fabs from scratch in a new geography is a challenge, but Foxconn is committed to invest in India. We have been working on challenges like this since the 1980s. Foxconn has no intention to do anything but continue to strongly support the government’s “Make In India” ambitions and establish a diversity of local partnerships that meet the needs of
stakeholders.

What are your plans going forward?

Foxconn is working toward submitting an application related to the “Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem.” We have been actively reviewing the landscape for optimal partners. We welcome a diverse set of stakeholders, both inside India and abroad, who also want to see India get to the next level and can complement Foxconn’s world-class supply chain management and manufacturing efficiency.

We understand there is a lot of interest in Foxconn’s plans and India’s information ecosystem is porous. However, due to the competitive and sensitive issues involved in negotiating large scale investments, Foxconn is unable to disclose more information at this time.