Foxconn one of few companies that can revive Nokia plant: TWTC official

Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn is one of the few companies in the sector that can revive the operations of the defunct Nokia manufacturing facility in Chennai, said George Lin, Director of Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC), Chennai. He added that for the small and medium enterprises in Taiwan it is still difficult to set up business in India considering the lack of ease of doing business even though single window clearance is present.

Speaking in the sidelines of the Taiwan Machine Tools Exhibition held in Chennai, he said that there would be only a few companies globally which has the capabilities, in which money is only one criteria, to revive the plant and Foxconn has such capabilities. He added that the TWTC is focusing on electronics and automobile companies from Taiwan investing in India.

However, of late, the companies coming to India are looking at domestic tariff area to set up their shops, considering that the market for them is within the country, rather than setting up facilities in SEZs to serve the overseas market. Even if the companies need to sell from SEZ to the domestic area, it has to go through long procedures. He added that the Government of India is also promoting setting up facilities for the Indian market rather than SEZs.

There are around 100 Taiwanese companies which has their offices in India, with around 30 in National Capital Region (NCR), another 30 in the Western region which include Mumbai, around 20 in Tamil Nadu and another around 10 in various parts of South India. Taiwan is keen on working with India to develop the industry here.

However, the small and medium enterprises from Taiwan are finding it still difficult to start business in India, considering the ease of doing business, he said.

“It took two months for me to open a bank account in India,” he said, while it would have been completed within a few hours if it is in some other countries.

“In Taiwan, the Single Window Clearance will have all the offices and banks represented within the premises. However, in India there are several departments involved in a process and one department has no authority to instruct the other to do a particular job. The Single Window Clearance offices here will give you information on how to open a bank account, but it does not take things forward,” he said.