NEW DELHI (Reuters) — Taiwan's Foxconn said on Monday it had withdrawn from a joint venture with conglomerate Vedanta (NYSE:VEDL), in a blow to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chipmaking plans.
Here is a timeline of how events have unfolded since the signing of the $19.5 billion joint venture:
* Feb. 14, 2022: Foxconn partners with Vedanta to make semiconductors in India in a bid to diversify its business. Foxconn said it will be «a significant boost to domestic manufacturing of electronics in India».
* Sept. 13, 2022: Vedanta and Foxconn sign pacts to invest $19.5 billion to set up semiconductor and display production. Modi's home state Gujarat is selected for the facilities.
* Sept. 14, 2022: Vedanta's Anil Agarwal says the Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate does not see funding problems for the JV.
* May 19, 2023: Deputy IT minister Chandrasekhar tells Reuters the JV «struggling» to tie up with a technology partner.
* May 31, 2023: Reuters reports that Vedanta-Foxconn JV proceeding slowly as talks to involve STMicroelectronics are deadlocked. Vedanta-Foxconn had got on board STMicro for licensing technology, but India's government had made clear it wants the European chipmaker to have «more skin in the game», such as a stake in the partnership, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
* June 30, 2023: India market regulator fines Vedanta for breaching disclosure rules by publishing a press release that made it appear it had partnered with Foxconn to make semiconductors in India, as the deal was with Vedanta's holding company.
* July 10, 2023: Foxconn drops Vedanta chip JV, without specifying a reason. «Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta,» it said,
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