Tata Electronics ups hiring in Hosur iPhone hub; to add around 35,000 more

Tata Electronics, which is expanding its iPhone assembly hub at Koothanapalli in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur, is set to increase its employee strength by 175 per cent to 55,000 from 20,000 now, two sources said.

The company did not respond to questions from Business Standard in this regard.

The hiring push comes amid reports that the Tata group company is in talks with Pegatron to acquire its unit near Chennai. Tata Electronics acquired Wistron’s domestic operations in November last year for $125 million, becoming the first Indian company to manufacture iPhones. Both Wistron and Pegatron are Taiwan-based contract manufacturers for Apple.

Another Taiwanese major, Foxconn, is the largest manufacturer of iPhones in India, contributing to around 67 per cent of such phones produced in India, followed by Pegatron with 17 per cent and Wistron with 16 per cent share. Based on a Bloomberg report, Apple suppliers assembled iPhones worth $14 billion in India in 2023-24, accounting for 14 per cent, or one in seven iPhones, globally. Apple is producing iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 15 in India. 

The Koothanapalli region is seeing a massive infrastructure development, with new roads, lots of shops, and real estate projects coming up. “This means more infrastructure will be required in the Hosur area. An addition of 35,000 more people would mean another 100,000-150,000 people will get shifted to the region,” one of the sources added.

After Tata Electronics acquired the Wistron India plant at Malur near Kolar in Karnataka, there were reports that it would invest around Rs 7,000 crore in its Hosur unit.

According to reports, the Foxconn and Pegatron units helped Tamil Nadu become the largest exporter of electronic goods in FY23 and FY24. This is compared to the fact that Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka dominated the space till FY22. Between April 2023 and January 2025, the state contributed $7.4 billion to India’s electronic exports.

It was in 2020 that the Tata Group got allotted around 500 acres at the GMR Krishnagiri Special Investment Region, a joint venture of GMR and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, in Uddanapalli near Hosur. The new unit at Koothanapalli is now seeing expansion.

Tata Electronics grabbed headlines recently when it carried out the groundbreaking for a Rs 91,000 crore semiconductor fabrication facility at the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR). This will be India's first semiconductor fabrication plant.