Corning Inc, the producer of Gorilla Glass and major Apple supplier, is aiming to establish a Rs 1,000 crore manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, The Economic Times (ET) said on Tuesday, citing numerous sources. The factory would be located in Pillaipakkam, near Sriperumbudur, and will employ 300 people. Corning will invest Rs 1,000 crore to build a Gorilla Glass facility in Tamil Nadu.

This will be the company's first foray into the Indian market. The Telangana government announced earlier this year that the corporation would establish a facility there. However, according to ET, the corporation chose Tamil Nadu over Telangana because of its proximity to other Apple suppliers such as Foxconn and Pegatron.

The memorandum of agreement (MoU) is expected to be inked in January at the Global Investor Meet (GIM). The timeline was not specified in the study. However, it was stated that the factory would take one year to construct.

According to Business Standard, India's first high-quality finished smartphone cover glass plant, co-owned by domestic electronics firm Optiemus Infracom and Corning, is expected to open in Telangana or Tamil Nadu by the end of 2024.

Initially, the smartphone cover glasses will be given a superior finish in the new facility that will be built as part of Optiemus and Corning's 70:30 joint venture. Bharat Innovation Glass (BIG) is the name of the new company.

The factory might commence operations in 2024, with a first-phase production capacity of 30 million pieces. The Indian factory will manufacture cover glasses for the front and rear panels of smartphones.

The joint enterprise has requested government assistance. It has already applied for incentives under the Scheme for Promoting Electronic Components and Semiconductors Manufacturing (SPECS). SPECS offers a 25% capital expenditure incentive for the selected list of electronic items that comprise the downstream value chain of electronic products.