India: Amid China+1, Foxconn gets massive dorm for iPhone assembly workers

Chennai

The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has inaugurated what is being dubbed 'India's first mega industrial housing project,' a facility to house more than 18,500 women workers of Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn).

The world's largest contract manufacturer is known to assemble gadgets such as Apple iPhones, Google Pixel, Amazon Kindle, and Sony PlayStation, across their global facilities.

Notably, Foxconn's iPhone assembly facility in Sriperumbudur, an industrial hub near Chennai, is barely 10 km away from the newly inaugurated accommodation for their workers. 

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Foxconn Hon Hai Technology Group Chairman Young Liu.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Foxconn Hon Hai Technology Group Chairman Young Liu

This is Liu's first visit to India after he was conferred the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award, on the eve of the 75th Republic Day this year.

Liu's visit comes at a time when global firms are executing their 'China plus one' strategy to move their manufacturing and supply chains to countries other than China. 

India, a country that has fought one land war against China, and continues to be locked in a border standoff with China, hopes to seize these opportunities. 

Earlier this week, Young Liu met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

"I highlighted the wonderful opportunities India offers in futuristic sectors. We also had excellent discussions on their investment plans in India in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh," Modi said in a social media post following the meeting with the Foxconn chief.

During this visit, Liu also met with chief ministers and state cabinet ministers of these three states.

"Foxconn’s largest footprint in India is here in Tamil Nadu. Foxconn celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. For almost 20 of those years, we have been India," said Young Liu.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin highlighted that the state is home to 42 per cent of the country's women workforce. He also emphasised that the state is the second largest economy in the country. 

Spread across 20 acres, the newly inaugurated Foxconn accommodation facility is built at a cost of approx $85million (₹706crore). This offsite dorm is exclusively for Foxconn's women workers working at the Sriperumbudur iPhone assembling factory, which employs more than 41,000 personnel. A large share of this workforce comprises women. 

Speaking at the event, TRB Rajaa, Tamil Nadu's Industries Minister emphasised that Foxconn has been a long-standing, trusted partner of the state. He also touched upon how there is potential to scale up multi-fold. He expressed optimism that the production output will improve even more with healthier and happier workers who benefit from the new dorm facilities. 

Foxconn's troubled past in India

In mid-2024, reports emerged that Foxconn was discriminating against married women while hiring candidates for their iPhone assembly Factories in India. It was said that Foxconnpref erred young women without family responsibilities and those who could spend considerably longer hours on the factory floor.

Also watch | Foxconn discriminating against married women in India?

Following this row, the Indian government is learned to have launched a probe against Foxconn and their allegedly unfair hiring practices. 

Interestingly, Young Liu responded to these allegations in his speech at the event in Sriperumbudur. He said that thousands of women work at Foxconn and that Foxconn hires regardless of gender.

"I would emphasise that married women greatly contribute to the efforts of what we are doing here. The trend for all types of hires at Foxconn is in an upward trend," he stated.

In December 2021, more than 150 women workers at the Foxconn facility in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu had fallen ill after consuming the meals provided at the staff dormitory. Back then, the women had risen in protest and blocked a crucial national highway.

The issue was later taken up by the Foxconn, Apple, and the Tamil Nadu Government. WION had visited and reported from the dorm rooms where the women workers had stayed.

In December 2021, in light of the issues connected with the Foxconn facility, Apple placed Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur on probation over cleanliness and hygiene issues at their staff dormitory and dining areas. Later, after corrective measures, audits by Foxconn and the intervention of the Tamil Nadu Government, the factory resumed its production activities in January 2022.

Foxconn and the Tamil Nadu Government have been emphasising that the newly inaugurated industrial housing facility will offer safe, secure, and comfortable accommodation for young women workers, most of whom hail from small towns and villages in different parts of India. 

"Living in dormitories is not customary in many of our locations in the world. But it is part of building a support system. In many instances, we hire people who have never lived in a small town or big city. When they come into our manufacturing campuses, they have to live with thousands of young people just like them, people they have never met," Liu said. 

Citing the Foxconn work-life culture in their home country, he added, we have dormitories where some of our employees choose to stay. "People do it for different reasons: A daily commute is too far away. A living space that is affordable and safe is not easy to find. Perhaps, living away from home represents independence and a way of exploring opportunities," he opined. 

Amid geopolitical tensions with China, American tech giants, including Apple have been looking to move more of their assembly facilities to India and southern Indian states. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have been taking the lead in luring the investors, predominantly Taiwanese contract manufacturers.

Cupertino-headquartered Apple also pins great hope on the young and aspirational Indian customer who wants to flaunt tech luxury.

In line with this, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India last year, and also opened the country's first Apple-owned retail outlets in Mumbai and Delhi. Both of these outlets are said to be doing brisk business.