Maharashtra government on Saturday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tiawan-based global electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn under which it will give the company 1500 acres of land for setting up its plant in the state. The company will also invest five billion US Dollar over the next five years in Maharashtra.At an event organised to announce the investment and signing of MoU in this regard between the company and the state government, the Chief Minister said Foxconn will create direct employment of 50,000 people through this MoU.Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said the facility in Maharashtra will focus on research and development as well as manufacturing, and the company has chosen the state for being a financial centre, availability of quality talent and software-hardware integration facilities.Gou said Foxconn will look for tie-ups with local partners for its presence in this state. He said the MoU between Foxconn and the state government for setting up the plant follows two months of active discussions during which he met the Chief Minister seven times and a team of 60-70 persons from the company was working on this.