Chennai: In a first of its kind development, a housing industrial facility, modelled on the lines of those in China, built by the Tamil Nadu government to house 18,720 women employees of key Apple supplier Foxconn was inaugurated on Saturday.
The massive facility spread over an area of 20 acres and built at a cost of Rs 706.05 crores was developed by the State Industries Development Corporation of Tamil Nadu in Vallam Vadagal near Sriperumbudur.
The landmark project is almost a replica of accommodation that Foxconn provides to its skilled workforce in countries like China.
Foxconn, which assembles much of the iPhones that are shipped from India to various parts of the globe, employs over 41,000 people in its facilities in and around Chennai, of which 35,000 are women.
Inaugurating the housing facility, Chief Minister M K Stalin said Foxconn is an integral part of Tamil Nadu’s economic growth story and expressed the hope that the Taiwanese electronics major will continue to invest in the state.
“Such investments will contribute to my dream of making Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion economy by 2030,” Stalin added.
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, who is visiting Tamil Nadu for the second time in just about a year, utilised the opportunity to control the damage that the company faced recently over reports that it discriminates married women in recruitment.
“Women is a big part of our workforce here in Tamil Nadu and married women also contribute greatly to Foxconn’s growth,” Li said, making an attempt to blunt the criticism.
He also said the hostel will provide an opportunity to thousands of young women from town and villages to mingle with others. “We congratulate the Tamil Nadu government for making this project a reality,” Li said.
Lis comments come close on the heels of the company facing an inquiry by the Union Government following reports that married women are excluded from new recruitment. However, a Central team interacted with employees at the factory and found that there was no discrimination.
Stalin, in his speech, spoke in detail about the steps being taken to garner investments to the state and said SIPCOT will build more industrial estates and land acquisition for the same is almost over.
The facility’s inauguration comes almost three years after massive protests by employees of Foxconn led to the company’s closure for about a fortnight. The women employees were not satisfied with the accommodation provided for them and protested against the “poor quality” of food provided to them.
After an intervention from Apple and the state government, Foxconn ensured better facilities for its women employees and met many of their demands.
Foxconn is one of the key suppliers of Apple and currently assembles high-end iPhones. Since last year, the company has begun assembling flagship models in India at the same time the assembly begins in China, where a majority of the Cupertino-based electronic major’s products are manufactured.
Additionally, Bharat FIH, a Foxconn Technology Group Company, will soon begin assembling Pixel phones and manufacturing drones for Google, a US technology giant.