In a significant boost to India's manufacturing ambitions, Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and Apple's primary iPhone assembler, has successfully onboarded a staggering 30,000 employees for its sprawling new facility in Devanahalli, near Bengaluru. This massive hiring drive, completed over eight months, underscores a strategic pivot in global electronics production.
A Facility Built on Scale and Diversity
The new plant, spread across a vast 300-acre area, is not just notable for its size but also for its workforce composition. Nearly 80% of the newly hired staff are women, creating a unique employment ecosystem. A majority of these recruits are freshers, belonging to the 19-24 years age group, with educational backgrounds ranging from high school to polytechnic diplomas.
According to sources cited in an Economic Times report, the production floor itself is a colossal 250,000 square feet in area. "It's massive by any standards but certainly amongst the largest in the country," a person familiar with the project stated. To accommodate the workforce, the campus features six large dormitories, several already operational to house the women staff, with construction for the remainder in full swing.
Training, Production, and Export Ambitions
Before starting work on the assembly lines, the new hires undergo a rigorous six-week on-the-job training program that utilizes Apple's proprietary learning modules. This upskilling initiative prepares the young workforce for the precision required in high-tech manufacturing.
The factory initiated trial production with the iPhone 16 models around April-May this year and has now progressed to manufacturing the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max units. A key highlight of the plant's output is its export orientation, with over 80% of production destined for international markets, boosting India's electronics export figures.
Expanding Beyond China: A Strategic Shift
This expansion is a cornerstone of Apple's strategy to diversify its supply chain away from China amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. The Indian government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, launched in 2021, has been instrumental in attracting such large-scale investments.
The scale of the Devanahalli project is set to eclipse Foxconn's existing iPhone manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu, which employs about 41,000 workers. Furthermore, the Karnataka facility is projected to employ around 50,000 workers at peak production, a milestone expected to be reached next year.
A government official quoted in the report hailed the development, stating, "Apple's operations in India are a shining example of government-industry partnership. This size and speed of expansion was unimaginable just four years ago. Apple's plant has broken multiple records setting a new benchmark for what is possible in manufacturing and exports from India."
The rapid establishment and staffing of the Foxconn plant near Bengaluru signal a transformative phase for India's electronics manufacturing sector, positioning the country as a critical and growing hub in the global smartphone supply chain.
