Thursday, December 11, 2014: Foxconn, the developer of iPhones and iPads for Apple and the Kindle for Amazon has shown interest in buying the Nokia’s defunct Chennai factory. Foxconn, the world’s largest electronic contract manufacturer is willing to make an investment of almost $2 billion in India. The news came in just a week after the domestic handset maker Lava was been reported to be interested in buying the plant.
Also, the telecom and IT ministry has proposed the permission to the revenue department for Nokia to sell the plant, which is currently tangle in a tax dispute, while without passing on the legal liability to the buyer.
The massive investment of $2 billion in India by Foxconn also involves the plant. One of the person familiar with the matter said, “What makes Foxconn’s investment plans even stronger is that one of its chief Indian clients, Micromax, is believed to have expressed its intention of sourcing as much as 25% of production if Foxconn were to take over the plant.”
A senior government official said, “The proceeds from the sale (of the plant) could be deposited into an escrow account, which, upon the final court ruling, can go to the winner.” He further added, “The current dispute, as it stands, is lose-lose for both parties. Nokia can’t sell, but if the plant and machinery goes to waste, the tax department will also not be able generate anything out of it.”
The dispute even prevented Nokia from transferring the plant to Microsoft as a part of a global $7.2-billion deal, signed to sell the devices business to the US Company. The factory went off operations after Microsoft decided about not using it further from 1 November.
