apos;Made in India' Lures Foxconn

GUIZHOU, China—Foxconn, Apple Inc.'s major assembler, is looking to invest in e-commerce and manufacturing operations in India, its chairman said Tuesday.

"I am interested in 'Made in India' and I plan to visit India in July. We already have employees doing surveys (for investments) there," Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on the sidelines of the Big Data Expo in Guizhou, southwest China.

Mr. Gou said the contract manufacturer is still in talks with Indian e-commerce startup Snapdeal.com about a potential investment.

But he declined to provide more details as "the deal hasn't been closed yet."

His comments came as the company, known officially as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has been striving to seek new growth drivers as competition for Apple's orders intensifies and wages in China, where it manufactures most of the consumer electronics, continue to rise.

Foxconn has been trying to expand into the higher-margin market, including robots and data centers that process and store large amounts of data on Internet-based applications.

The company has also invested in the manufacturing operations of SoftBank Corp.'s robot called Pepper, said Mr. Gou, adding that Alibaba also has a stake in the robot operation.

Write to Lorraine Luk at [e-mail]

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