One of Apple’s biggest manufacturers has leased close to 500,000 square feet in Chennai’s Casa Grande Industrial Park for its mobile manufacturing facility in India.
The Taiwanese company plans to invest Rs 1,100 crore ($150 million) in the Tamil Nadu facility, Business Standard.
The report said senior state government officials and real estate firm JLL confirmed the news, while Pegatron and Casa Grande did not respond to queries.
The move is in line with Pegatron Corporation’s sanction of Rs 1,100 crore for its growth plans through subsidiary Pegatron Technology India.
Experts told the paper that a key reason for Pegatron choosing Tamil Nadu as its base was Apple putting Wistron – another Apple supplier – on probation due to violence at its Bengaluru factory. Incentives and connectivity were also factors, they added. Foxconn is also based in Tamil Nadu.
Research from JLL showed that Chennai had been the top choice in manufacturing space-hogging 36 percent of transactions and leasing 6.6 million square feet in 2020.
Tamil Nadu hosts electronics majors such as BYD, Flex, Foxconn, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung. Tata Electronics is also said to be in talks to invest $676 million in a mobile parts facility at Hosur.