Apple and its supplier Foxconn were among the companies that lobbied for a landmark liberalisation of labour laws in the southern Indian state of Karnataka earlier this month, the Financial Times reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The legislation led to the introduction of laws that now allows 12-hour shifts and night-time work for women. These are now similar to Foxconn’s working practices in China, the report said on Friday.
The law increases the number of overtime hours that are permitted from 75 to 145 over the course of three months. It also caps the maximum number of working hours per week at 48, the FT report said.
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The amendments were made after “a lot of inputs” from domestic and foreign firms and lobby groups, it said. The new laws give Karnataka “one of the most flexible working regimes in India,” the report added.
Apple, Foxconn and the Karnataka government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The report comes a week after the Karnataka government said that Apple iPhones would soon be assembled in the state. It said it has set aside a total of 300 acres for the factory.
India, the world’s third largest economy, aims to become an alternative manufacturing base to China.
Meanwhile, Apple has been shifting production away from China in the aftermath of the country’s strict zero-Covid restrictions which disrupted the manufacturing of new iPhones and other devices in the country.
The US tech giant also aims to avoid a big hit to its business from the ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The company’s top supplier, Foxconn has already begun expanding operations in India. The Taiwanese giant’s chairman Young Liu visited multiple Indian states earlier this month and also met prime minister Narendra Modi to “update him” on its “good progress in the country.”
The Foxconn team said it aims to “make semiconductors a success in the country.”
- Reuters, with additional inputs from Vishakha Saxena
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