India’s Tata Electronics is central to Apple’s push to diversify iPhone manufacturing past China and is the second-biggest provider to Apple in South Asia after Taiwan’s Foxconn.
The Tata plant beneath investigation is in Hosur in southern Tamil Nadu state and makes again panels and different parts for iPhones. Farmland homeowners close to the plant had complained for months to the Tamil Nadu Air pollution Management Board that wastewater from the manufacturing facility was contaminating their land and open wells.
The complaints led to 5 state inspections between December 2025 and Could 2026, in accordance with particulars from a beforehand unreported regulatory discover dated Could 25 and reviewed by Reuters.
The inspections discovered that Tata discharged wastewater right into a rainwater harvesting pond inside its facility and that the pond overflowed to infect “groundwater within the open wells positioned within the adjoining agricultural lands”, the air pollution board’s warning discover to Tata stated.
Tata had not taken any corrective actions on directions issued by the air pollution board in a earlier letter dated December 23, 2025, it stated within the three-page discover.
Tata Electronics informed Reuters in a press release it had commissioned an impartial evaluation by way of an accredited laboratory and that the examine decided the corporate was “in full compliance with all regulatory norms”.Tata stated it was “dedicated to accountable enterprise practices and safety of the atmosphere and native communities”, and that it had responded to air pollution authorities, though giving no additional particulars.
The air pollution board in its Could discover requested Tata to clarify why energy to the unit shouldn’t be reduce and the unit closed for its alleged breach of the principles.
Apple, which has strict guidelines on how its suppliers deal with wastewater, and the Tamil Nadu authorities didn’t reply to requests for remark from Reuters.
APPLE’S STRUGGLES IN INDIA
Corporations have typically confronted disciplinary motion from air pollution authorities in India. In 2024, Mercedes-Benz improved wastewater and air air pollution administration at its solely automotive manufacturing facility in India after officers detected lapses in compliance with environmental legislation.
India’s atmosphere ministry informed parliament in February that 4.4% of 544,364 industries have been discovered non-compliant with environmental requirements within the final 5 years, and three,600 have been shut down by air pollution management departments.
The Tata discover provides to a sequence of points which have dogged Apple’s India provide chain. A fireplace at Tata’s Hosur plant in September 2024 halted iPhone element manufacturing briefly, whereas a hearth in September 2023 at former provider Pegatron’s iPhone plant shut manufacturing for days.
In 2024, a Reuters investigation discovered that main Apple provider Foxconn systematically excluded married girls from iPhone meeting jobs at certainly one of its crops in India, though the corporate stated on the time that it complied with all legal guidelines.
India is projected to make 26% of all iPhones globally in 2026, from simply 6% 4 years in the past, in accordance with analysis agency Counterpoint.
