Foxconn building hostel to house 60,000 employees in Tamil Nadu: Report

In response to the strong domestic demand for Apple products and Foxconn's aim to diversify away from China, 'brisk construction' is going on at a 20-acre plot in Tamil Nadu

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is reportedly building hostels for about 60,000 employees near its manufacturing facility in Chennai as it aims to boost the production of Apple devices. In response to the strong domestic demand for Apple products and the company's aim to diversify away from China, "brisk construction" is going on at a 20-acre plot in Tamil Nadu, a report by the Economic Times (ET) said. 

 

The Taiwanese company manufactures Apple phones at its facility in Sriperumbudur. It employs over 15,000 workers, most of which are women. In the next 18 months, the number of employees is expected to go up to 70,000. 

 

The first facility, which will be able to accommodate 20,000 people, will be ready in the next ten months, a person aware of the developments told ET. Apart from the hostels, the company is also constructing new manufacturing facilities inside its Sriperumbudur plant. 

 

The new quarters will have both food and medicine provided by the company. The same model is followed by Foxconn in China too.  

 

According to experts, this policy to construct housing facilities is "just an emulation of one part of a strategy that worked elsewhere". 

 

In September, Apple began assembling iPhone 14 in India. In early December, Foxconn announced an infusion of $500 million into its India unit. The majority of the money would go towards boosting the production capacity, the company said in a regulatory filing. 

 

Tamil Nadu is fast becoming the iPhone manufacturing hub in India, with Foxconn and Pegatron already housing their factories there. Wistron manufactures Apple devices at its Hosur facility in Karnataka.