Corning enters India to produce glass for smartphones, new unit to come up in Kanchipuram

Chennai: US-based Gorilla glass maker Corning International Corporation on Tuesday became the fifth major supplier of Apple Inc to enter Tamil Nadu with the company breaking ground for a brand-new manufacturing unit in Sriperumbudur.

Corning in partnership with home-grown Optieums Infracom Limited will invest Rs 1,003 crore in the new production unit that will come up at the state-owned SPICOT Industrial Park in Pillaipakkam near Sriperumbudur, where Foxconn assembles high-end Apple iPhones.

The company broke ground on the Bharat Innovative Glass Technologies, a joint venture of Corning and Optieums, (BIG Tech) facility. BIG Tech will be India’s first facility to produce high-quality, finished cover-glass parts for mobile consumer electronics, helping meet growing manufacturer demand in India, the company said in a statement.

The foundation stone was laid five months after the Tamil Government and BIG Tech signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The factory will manufacture front-cover glasses for electronic devices like mobile phones, including Apple iPhones, sources told DH.

“This joint venture with Optiemus Infracom demonstrates our shared

commitment to bringing life-changing innovations to the Indian market – and the world. By actively supporting our customers as they advance their supply chains, we’re giving more consumers in the region an opportunity to experience the renowned durability of Gorilla Glass,” David Velasquez, Vice President and General Manager, Corning Gorilla Glass, said.

Ashok Gupta, Executive Chairman, Optiemus Infracom, said the company’s

collaboration with Corning exemplifies their shared commitment to driving technological advancements and delivering high-quality products to the market in alignment with the Indian government’s Make in India initiative.

Manufacturing finished cover-glass components domestically is a significant evolution for the industry in India. The new facility further underscores Corning’s continued investment in India across multiple industries, specifically those aligned with emerging market trends in the region, the company added.

The investment by Corning marks the entry of yet another Apple Inc. supplier to Tamil Nadu, which already boasts of massive facilities owned by Foxconn, Pegatron, Tata Electronics, and Salcomp, which supplies chargers to the Cupertino-based electronics major. Foxconn is also likely to manufacture Pixel phones and drones for Google at its Sriperumbudur facility.

Another contract supplier of Apple, Luxshare, is expected to start operations in Chennai very soon from the old Motorola factory it acquired in 2021. The investment pledge by BIG TECH comes within a month of Tata and Pegatron announcing expansion plans at their factories near Hosur and Chennai respectively.

While Corning International is a Fortune 500 company, Optiemus Infracom is a public-listed company in India with vast experience in mobile phone components and laptop manufacturing in India.