Foxconn is facing disruption in China due to tight virus restrictions at its Zhengzhou plant.Therefore, the world’s largest iPhone factory’s production has been disrupted, fuelling concerns over the impact of China’s virus policy on global supply chains.

Consequently, Taiwan-based Foxconn now plans to boost the workforce at its plant in India’s Tamil Nadu.

The agency said the company is planning to add 53,000 more workers over the next two years to boost the production of iPhones.

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra reacted to the news. Taking to Twitter, Mahindra questioned whether this could be a ‘gentle sound of a global supply chain shift’.

Mahindra precisely wrote on Twitter, “No fanfare or drumrolls. But could it be the gentle sound of a global supply chain shift?”

While the size of the plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu is dwarfed by Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, which employs 200,000 workers, it is central to Apple’s efforts to shift production away from China.

Foxconn formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, opened the India plant in 2019 and has been ramping up production. It began producing iPhone 14 this year.

Foxconn has shared its plans with Tamil Nadu officials about accelerating its hiring efforts at the Indian plant due to disruptions in China, said the first government source.

Beyond iPhones, the plant also manufactures products for other global tech firms, but the new hiring push is mainly driven by its need to meet growing iPhone demand, according to a Reuters report.

On 27 October, Tamil Nadu’s investment promotion arm tweeted that top government officials had travelled to Taiwan and met Liu. They had “elaborately discussed Foxconn’s plans for new ventures and investments” and offered the government’s support.

Last year, Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant was at the centre of a mass food poisoning incident that sparked employee protests and threw light on the living conditions of the workers in hostels near the factory.

Currently, iPhones are assembled in India by at least three of Apple’s global suppliers: Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu; and Wistron in nearby Karnataka state.

JP Morgan analysts estimated in September that Apple may make one out of four iPhones in India by 2025, and 25% of all Apple products, including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, will be manufactured outside China by 2025 from 5% currently.

(With Reuters inputs)