Corning's Indian JV signs $120 mln investment deal with Tamil Nadu state

Optiemus Infracom

23/01/2024 09:39

CHENNAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - India's Tamil Nadu state
said on Tuesday that a joint venture of Corning  GLW.N  agreed
to invest 10 billion rupees ($120.4 million), underscoring the
growing importance of the south Asian country as a manufacturing
hub.
    The joint venture (JV), named Bharat Innovative Glass
Technologies, is a tie-up between U.S. electronics maker
Corning, a key parts supplier for Apple  AAPL.O , and Indian
telecommunications company Optiemus Infracom  OPTI.NS .
    The new facility will make front cover glass for mobile
phones and phone parts makers in India, the state government
said, without specifying the particular brands to which the
glass would be supplied.
    The facility in Tamil Nadu is the company's first
manufacturing plant after the JV was formed in September. 
    The $155 billion Indian electronics market is benefitting
from a global shift in supply chains away from China, with
additional support from the Indian government's
production-linked incentives aimed at promoting local
manufacturing.
    Several contract manufacturers, including the world's
largest, Taiwan's Foxconn  2317.TW , as well as other Apple
suppliers such as Pegatron  4938.TW  and Finland's Salcomp have
signed agreements worth several million dollars to expand their
operations in India.
    Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu said it had entered into
agreements totalling 6.64 trillion rupees in investments with
investors ranging from technology heavyweights Microsoft
 MSFT.O  to local conglomerates such as the Adani Group.
    A number of Indian states, including Telangana, Gujarat, and
Maharashtra have signed investment deals with companies such as
Maruti Suzuki  MRTI.NS , the Tata Group, and the Adani Group.

($1 = 83.0890 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Varun Vyas; Editing by
Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
 ((varunvyas.hebbalalu@thomsonreuters.com;))