Foxconn will double iPhone production in India to meet local demand

Foxconn is said to be almost doubling its staff at the Chennai plant in order to produce iPhone models in greatly increased numbers for sale in India.

As Foxconn restarts iPhone production in China following the Shenzhen lockdown, the company is also planning to expand its plant in India.

According to Economic Times of India, it's Apple that has got the local government's clearance to do what's called "denotifying." Foxconn's Chennai plant operates within a special economic zone (SEZ), which infers certain benefits, along with certain conditions.

A denotified region can be used for expanded production, for instance, on the condition that this production be for local sale within what's called the domestic tariff area (DTA).

"The expansion has been on the cards," an unspecified source told the publication. "A portion of their premises has been denotified to ramp up production, for which they need to increase their workforce."

Foxconn has marked 40 acres within its operations for the new production facility. It is not known when the new manufacturing plant will be operational, and Foxconn has not commented publicly.

The current Foxconn facility at Chennai was the subject of a closure enforced by both Apple and the local authorities following protests over working and housing conditions. The Economic Times says that all worker accommodations have now been reopened, except for an unspecified number of hostels that the company has chose not to open yet.

Chennai's local authorities told the publication that Foxconn "should be able to have its total workforce back at the hostels" by the first week in May 2022.