Google to make Pixel phones, drones in Tamil Nadu
Deal clinched during TN team's visit to the US recently; formal announcement deferred due to Model Code in place
Tech giant Google
CHENNAI: Tech giant Google would soon establish its plant in Tamil Nadu to manufacture one of its flagship products 'Google Pixel' phone and also drones. The Tamil Nadu government has secured a massive deal with Google to land the advanced Pixel phone and drone manufacturing plants.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations between the Tamil Nadu government and the tech behemoth disclosed to DT Next that the Google Pixel phone manufacturing plant would come up near Chennai. According to sources, the deal was 100 per cent on but the formal announcement was deferred due to the election Model Code of Conduct. The deal was clinched following a visit of the Tamil Nadu government delegation led by Industries Minister TRB Rajaa to the United States where they met with senior management of Google and Foxconn over ten days ago, sources added.
It has been reliably learnt that Foxconn would act as the contract manufacturer for Pixel phones for Google in Tamil Nadu, while a minor component of the phone would be manufactured by Dixon Technologies for the Google Pixel 8 phone. Google will also start manufacturing drones in Tamil Nadu through its subsidiary company.
The delegation dispatched by Chief Minister MK Stalin was also said to have made a series of investment pitches with top executives of leading firms in the US. Sources also added that Foxconn has massively scaled up its capacity in the Chennai plant given the reported Google Pixel production. While the State government remained tightlipped on the big ticket investment on the pipelines, minister Rajaa who caught a whiff of the leaked information posted on his 'X' page late Thursday evening that the state industrial sector was "set for a massive thrust in the near future with many more international giants making plans to set shop in the talent capital of India – Tamil Nadu."
The Google pixel project could be a boost to the State in achieving its investment target of Rs 6.6 lakh crore set in the Global Investors Meet 2024, the third edition of the investment conclave organized by the State government to woo investors.