India’s opposition Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi earlier attacked the Narendra Modi government for destroying jobs through policy missteps. An average of 30,000 jobs were lost every day. Foxconn's announcement to shift its production base from China to India is expected to boost support for Modi’s ruling party

New Delhi — In the midst of intense national elections in India, Foxconn Technology, the largest producer of Apple iPhones, has announced that it will shift its production base from China to India. The announcement will provide a boost to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Narendra Modi, in the ongoing election.

The party is facing flak from opposition parties as leaked government data suggest that the unemployment rate in India stood at 6.1 per cent in 2017, its highest level since 1972-73.

"In the future, we will play a very important role in India's smartphone industry," Terry Gou chairman of Foxconn Technology said at an event in Taiwan. "We have moved our production lines there." 

The chairman of the single largest employer in mainland China announced that iPhones will go into mass production in India this year. There are 1.3 million people on Foxconn's payroll in China alone.