Housing For India's Manufacturing Workforce: Tamil Nadu To Open Dormitory For Foxconn's Women Workers

The Tamil Nadu government is set to launch a housing initiative for 18,720 women employed by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, a major supplier to iPhone-maker Apple.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, along with Foxconn chairman Young Liu, will inaugurate the Vallam Vadagal Industrial Housing Project on 17 August.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Technology Group, is Apple’s largest iPhone supplier in India.

The Sriperumbudur unit currently employs around 40,000 people — 80 per cent of whom come from outside the local area.

In 2020, the Tamil Nadu government approved the creation of this industrial housing facility for Foxconn and other industrial workers.

The project, costing approximately Rs 706.5 crore, is situated in the SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) Industrial Park, Vallam Vadagal, Kancheepuram district, covering 20 acres.

It will house the workforce across 13 blocks — each block consisting of a stilt and 10 floors containing 24 rooms per floor. Each room, designed as a dormitory, will have six beds, accommodating a total of 1,440 occupants per block, as per MC report.

Foxconn implemented a similar worker accommodation model in China, where it also manages food and medical services to enhance production efficiency.

In Tamil Nadu, Foxconn will oversee basic amenities and daily operations such as security, housekeeping, while SIPCOT will be responsible for infrastructure maintenance, including roads, sewage treatment plants, solar panel systems, and fire safety measures.

As India’s electronic manufacturing sector expands, both central and state governments are focusing on establishing industrial housing for the growing workforce.

The Union Budget 2024-25 also emphasised the creation of rental housing with dormitory-style accommodations for industrial workers through public-private partnerships, supported by viability gap funding and commitments from anchor industries.

Additionally, with the development of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, state governments are providing infrastructure support for worker accommodations, at its emerging industrial hubs.

In Tamil Nadu, the state government is also backing a housing initiative at the Tata Electronics Hosur plant, where iPhones are assembled, by offering land at subsidised rates, investing in the housing project, and funding the construction of an access road to the plant.

In Gujarat’s Dholera Special Investment Region, the state government is developing a housing project for workers at the planned semiconductor fabrication facility, which includes 1,500 flats for workers and engineers, as well as hostels and dormitories for up to 10,000 shop floor workers.

For the chip packaging facility being constructed in Morigaon, Assam, the government has allocated land at subsidised rates and repurposed existing structures from former paper mills to serve as housing for the workforce.