India's Karnataka govt approves $968 million investment from Foxconn unit

BENGALURU (Reuters) - The southern Indian state of Karnataka has approved an 80 billion rupee ($967.91 million) investment in the state by a unit of Taiwan's Foxconn.

The investment will lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs, the government said in a statement on Monday.

Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, has been in discussions with Indian states, but has not announced any investment plans so far in Karnataka.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for confirmation on the investment.

The Apple supplier had won an order to make AirPods and planned to build a facility in India to manufacture the wireless earphones, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.

Apple has been shifting production away from China after the country's strict COVID-related restrictions disrupted the manufacturing of new iPhones and other devices in the country. The tech giant is also looking to avoid a hit to its business due to tensions between Beijing and Washington.

($1 = 82.6520 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)