Foxconn Chennai “iPhone” plant to reopen today, Is Indian iPhone 13 happening?

The Foxconn plant in Sriperumbudur is said to reopen from January 12 after the workers protest in December 2021.

The iPhone 13 production trial run is expected to resume soon after the Foxconn plant reopens. (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

The controversial iPhone manufacturing plant is said to reopen from today, i.e., January 12, after it dominated the Indian news scene for all the wrong reasons. The Foxconn plant in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, had shut down on December 18, 2021, after 250 workers fell ill due a food poisoning incident. Foxconn and Apple are yet to confirm the reopening officially.

The information comes via a Reuters report that quotes government officials and a legislator of the region stating the plant's reopening from January 12. The plant reopens with 100 workers at the moment but it could take up to two months to reach its full capacity. There's also no information on when production of the iPhone resumes.

“K Selvaperunthagai, a member of the state assembly for the area, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin told the assembly late on Friday the plant would reopen on Wednesday,” said the Reuters report.

Foxconn plant to reopen from January 12

The plant shutdown came at a time when Foxconn and Apple were testing the local production belt of the iPhone 13. Previous reports said that Apple is planning to bring the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini production to India, the commercial run of which is expected to begin in February. But this was before the plant shutdown happened and it now remains to be seen whether the deadline gets pushed.

The Foxconn plant is also responsible for manufacturing the iPhone 12, iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR. The iPhone SE 2020 is also manufactured in India but that is managed by Apple's other contract manufacturer Wistron out of a plant near Bengaluru.

The Foxconn plant, however, still remains on probation and Apple will continue to monitor the condition of the workers' living arrangements. "Workers will start to return gradually as soon as we are certain our standards are being met in every dormitory and dining area," said Apple.

“We have implemented a range of corrective actions to ensure this cannot happen again and a rigorous monitoring system to ensure workers can raise any concerns they may have, including anonymously,” said Foxconn.