Bengaluru: Foxconn factory turns rural town into real estate goldmine

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

Foxconn’s arrival is quickly changing a rural town in southern India into a real estate hot spot.

Devanahalli, located on the outskirts of India’s tech hub, Bengaluru, is home to Foxconn’s “Project Elephant”, a 13-million-square-foot site, roughly the size of 220 football fields. The $2.5 billion facility is set to be Foxconn’s second-largest factory outside China and create 40,000 jobs. The factory is part of Foxconn’s broader effort to diversify supply chains amid the US-China trade war. The company plans to double its iPhone production in India to up to 30 million units.

Foxconn’s Devanahalli project, approved by the local government in 2023, is the biggest in an agricultural belt known for pomelos, blue grapes, and silk, among other things. Property prices in the area have risen by 35% since Foxconn’s entry, according to data from property consultancy Anarock. Still, resistance persists against the wider industrial push in Devanahalli: While many farmers have come around, some continue to hold out, demanding higher compensation for their land.

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