Tata Electronics Clears Pollution Concerns at Tamil Nadu iPhone Plant

Tata Electronics, an Apple supplier, has cleared pollution concerns at its iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu. The state pollution control board dropped its investigation after Tata addressed issues regarding wastewater discharge. Farmers had complained about contamination of agricultural lands. Tata confirmed its facility's water samples showed no contamination. This development is significant for Apple's production diversification efforts in India.

Apple's Indian supplier Tata Electronics on Tuesday said a state pollution control board has dropped its scrutiny of the company's iPhone components plant after it addressed concerns about contamination.

The southern Tamil Nadu state's pollution control authority had warned Tata of a forced shutdown unless it explained why government inspections found that wastewater discharge had contaminated open wells ‌in adjacent agricultural ⁠lands, ⁠Reuters reported on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Tata told Reuters in a statement that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had confirmed that the company "has satisfactorily addressed all queries mentioned" in the warning notice and "dropped any further course of action on this issue".

The Tamil Nadu state pollution control board did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Apple also did not respond to a request ​for comment.

Tata is central to Apple's push to diversify ⁠its iPhone production ‌beyond China. The plant that faced scrutiny is located in Hosur, ​25 miles ​south of tech hub Bengaluru, and makes back panels and other ⁠components for iPhones.

Tata said in its statement that the pollution ​board has confirmed "that the reports of its own analysis of recently ​collected water samples from Tata Electronics' manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu do not indicate any contamination".

Tata added that it had commissioned an independent analysis through an accredited laboratory, the results of which indicated that all the parameters were within prescribed limits, and it submitted a formal response including those results to the pollution authority.

The pollution control body ‌had previously said Tata discharged wastewater into a rainwater harvesting pond inside its facility and that the pond overflowed to contaminate "groundwater in the open ​wells located ​in the adjacent agricultural ⁠lands". The scrutiny followed complaints from farmers.

The Tata notice was the latest in a series of issues that have dogged Apple's India supply chain. A fire at Tata's Hosur plant in September 2024 halted iPhone component production briefly, while a fire in September 2023 at former supplier Pegatron's iPhone plant shut production for days.

Other companies have also faced disciplinary action from pollution authorities in India. In 2024, Mercedes-Benz improved wastewater and air pollution management at its only car factory in the country after officials detected lapses in compliance with environmental law.

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