A fire erupted early Saturday morning at a major Tata Electronics iPhone assembly plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu which resulted in a complete production halt. Thankfully, reports of the incident suggest there were no human casualties or injuries.
A spokesperson for Tata Electronics Private Limited confirmed the incident, stating, “There has been an unfortunate incident of fire at our plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.”. “Our emergency protocols at the plant ensured that all our employees are safe”, he added.
Tata Electronics iPhones assembly plants are under impact by fire
However, the fire did cause significant damage to the manufacturing plants. ETTimes reports that production at the plant has halted and employees were sent home for the day because of the fire. The report adds fire officials confirmed a building had collapsed within the plant.
A source familiar with the plant’s operations told Reuters that the affected building produced certain iPhone components. However, it remains unclear if the nearby building, where smartphone production is set to begin by the end of the year, was also impacted.
Officials’ response suggests the situation will likely take time to stabilize. “We can’t go inside now as the pathway is destroyed,” stated J. Saravanan, the district’s senior industrial safety official, to Reuters. “It will take one day for it to cool down.”
The full impact of the catastrophe is still unknown. Tata Electronics has not commented on any potential delays, but, likely, the plants will take time and a significant effort to get back running at their original capacity.
For those unaware, Tata Electronics is one of the major contract makers of iPhones in India, along with Foxconn. The Hosur plant, Apple’s fourth assembly facility in India, was expected to begin production in November this year, though this timeline may now be pushed back due to the incident.
The plant covers 250 acres, and according to Bloomberg, the facility is expected to house around 20 assembly lines and employ approximately 50,000 workers within the next two years.
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