Apple and Foxconn persuade the Indian government to relax labor laws

Image Credit: Livemint According to three people with knowledge of the situation, companies like Apple and its manufacturing partner Foxconn were involved in the historic liberalization of labor laws that took place in the Indian state of Karnataka last month. Two-shift production can now take place in India, like the two companies' practices in China, where their main manufacturing base is, thanks to their successful lobbying for new legislation. As India strives to compete with China as a manufacturing hub, the law grants the southern state one of the most accommodating work environments in the nation. The move by Karnataka is an effort to take advantage of the opening presented by businesses looking to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing in the wake of the months-long COVID-19 disruption that has shaken supply chains around the world. Also Read: Imposed Policies Violate Labor Rights, Say Apple Executives A new 300-acre factory in Karnataka will manufacture Apple phones, according to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's minister of electronics and information technology, who made the announcement last week. No factory plans have been officially confirmed by Foxconn. Image Credit: Neowin The state, which serves as a hub for India's tech industry, amended its application of the factories act last week to allow for 12-hour shifts instead of the previous restriction of nine hours. Additionally, it loosened restrictions on women working at night, a group that is underrepresented in India's labor force despite dominating electronics production lines in China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The law raises the number of permissible overtime hours from 75 to 145 over the course of three months, capping the maximum number of working hours per week at 48. Also Read: Supplies for iPhone 14 Pro are reportedly getting better The officials claimed that Foxconn, Apple, and other foreign companies provided "a lot of input" into Karnataka's labor law amendment. Apple and Foxconn both declined to comment. A person close to Foxconn claimed that India, which is expected to surpass China this year as the world's most populous nation, was a promising market that Foxconn could no longer ignore but that there were still significant differences between India and China's investment climates. [caption id="attachment_110587" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image: NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES[/caption] Under the "Make in India" initiative, the government of Narendra Modi is working to promote manufacturing, which still has a limited impact on India's largely service-based economy. Offering incentives to investors in the electronics and other sectors is a strategy used by both the central government and Indian states, particularly those in the south of the country, to entice manufacturers looking to diversify away from China. Foxconn, which currently manufactures iPhones at a facility in the state of Tamil Nadu, has mentioned expanding its operations in Karnataka and the neighboring state of Telangana but has not been specific about the products it intends to produce for Apple. Young Liu, the chair of Foxconn, visited Hyderabad in Telangana and Bengaluru in Karnataka last week, one of the most obvious indications yet that the Taiwanese electronics company intends to expand its presence in India.