Apple supplier in India working on setting up worker dormitories: Report

Foxconn's AirPods facility at Kongara Kalan near Hyderabad's airport is expected to include a dormitory for its workers

As Apple is aiming to expand its manufacturing in India, its contract manufacturers and local governments are setting up dormitories for workers at their plants, The Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday. In Tamil Nadu, where Foxconn has its main factory, a government agency is building dormitories to accommodate 18,000 women.

Moreover, the report added that another dorm in Tamil Nadu will be able to accommodate 20,000 more workers. In Karnataka, where Foxconn has broken ground on another plant, the state government has formed a new policy to support and build dorms for workers.

In Telangana, the state government already allows investors to devote 20 per cent of their factory land for dormitories.

The FT report said that Foxconn is building a factory to make Apple's AirPods through its subsidiary FIT in 2024. The factory site at Kongara Kalan near Hyderabad's airport is expected to include a dormitory for its workers.

FT quoted a person aware of the development as saying that the main model in India so far, where workers are brought from hometowns with shuttle buses, is not sustainable amid a production push from Apple.

Foxconn has long used dormitories in China and Vietnam, where a large part of the production of Apple devices takes place. However, it is yet unclear how Indian workers will react to the development, given no major company in India has asked its employees to stay in dorms.

However, the FT report said that it is likely to make the job easier for women workers because of the safety issues around commuting and social stigmatisation. 

It is also pressing given the fact that the number of Foxconn employees in India was over 50,000 in June this year.