Electronics contract manufacturing major Foxconn’s chairman Young Liu on Thursday was all praise for the pace of progress in Telangana and expressed the confidence that the State, where the firm expressed an intent earlier in the day to set up manufacturing facility, would help double its revenue.
“Very impressed... in Telangana speed [of work] is so fast,” he said at the inauguration of T-Works, the hardware prototyping centre of the State government that, besides being poised to emerge largest such in the country, forms an integral part of the world’s largest innovation campus, in the heart of Hyderabad’s IT hub.
Stating how everything about Hyderabad, from the time he landed in the airport to the arrangements made in a short time at the two prospective manufacturing sites he visited, impressed him, Mr. Liu said “when I arrived here... I asked myself is this India?” Referring to his meeting with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and a video on the State’s achievement in the last seven years, he said the progress made by Telangana under the leadership of KCR amazed him.
SMT assembly line
Appreciating T-Works and the short time in which it had taken shape, he urged innovators to make use of the opportunity available in the form of the makers lab. Foxconn would donate an SMT (surface mount technology) industrial level assembly line to T-Works, Mr. Liu announced. Earlier, accompanied by Industries and IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao, he took a tour of the facility. The first phase of T-Works is spread over 78,000 sq ft and equipped with a range equipment and machinery that would help turn ideas of innovators, be it individuals or organisations, into prototypes. T-Works would eventually be a 2.50 lakh sq ft facility and house many more machineries. A laser show, live performance and a kabuki drop marked the inauguration of the facility.
A laser show and fireworks marked the inauguration of T-Works in Hyderabad on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Arrangement
Sources said the Foxconn delegation was shown two sites on the outskirts of Hyderabad for its manufacturing facility under consideration. The locations are in Dundigul and Kongara Kalan and the Taiwanese firm is looking for a large land parcel of around 200 acres for the facility. To media queries after the T-Works programme, Mr. Liu said Foxconn’s proposed facility would help create 1 lakh jobs in the State. “We are looking at a site... yet to decide on the products we can [manufacture here]... it is under evaluation... announcement on the investment will be made [later].”
Mr. Rama Rao said the first phase of T-Works was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what was possible, through such facilities, in terms of promoting innovation. Thanking Foxconn for its announcement on the jobs, the Minister said Hyderabad could emerge next manufacturing hub for Foxconn. “With India’s software prowess and Taiwan’s hardware expertise, we can lead an industrial revolution and enable youngsters to come out with world class products,” he said.
T-Works CEO Sujai Karmapuri said the facility had equipment worth ₹11.5 crore, which was expected to increase and become ₹110 crore by the year-end.
