Inaugurating ₹706.50 crore Industrial Housing Facility at Sipcot Industrial Park Vallam Vadagal in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said 42% of women working in India’s factories reside in Tamil Nadu.
The facility, spread across 20 acres, is touted to be first of its kind in India. It can accommodate 18,720 workers. Sipcot has established the facility in partnership with Foxconn. “This will be a trendsetter for other States to follow,” said Mr. Stalin, who along with Foxconn Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu inaugurated the facility on Saturday.
He said the Foxconn facility here employs 41,000 employees and out of them, 35,000 are women. He pointed out that Foxconn assembles Apple iPhones and it has 12 manufacturing plants across the world and the company has set up two units in Sriperumbudur, which is a matter of pride for the State.
He also pointed out that the State has more than 39,000 factories which also contributes to higher production and employment opportunities. Mr. Stalin said he had set a target for creating 45,000 acres of land bank and 41,000 acres have already been identified.
Mr. Stalin also pointed out that the State has set a goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and sought support from companies like Foxconn to help achieve the target. He also highlighted various measures taken by the DMK government for welfare of women including Pudhumai Penn Scheme, Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam and noted that Sipcot has taken a decision to directly establish creches for infants
He also noted that Tamil Nadu has fared better than national average in 11 of the 13 parameters for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, as per the latest SDG India Index 2023-24, released by NITI Aayog. Mr. Stalin also said Tamil Nadu accounted for 9.19% of India’s Gross Domestic Product and continued to be the Second largest State economy in 2023-24.
In a social media post, Mr. Stalin said, “A special thanks to Mr. Young Liu for his support in Tamil Nadu’s pursuit of becoming a One Trillion Dollar Economy. We are committed to ensuring that Tamil Nadu meets all the needs for smooth and successful business operations.”
‘Largest footprint’
Mr. Liu said Foxconn’s largest footprint in India is in Tamil Nadu. “Foxconn hires regardless of gender. Women do make a big part of our workforce here. I emphasise that married women also contribute to our efforts here,” he said. Mr. Liu’s remarks on married women came amid reports that the company’s Sriperumbudur plant does not allow married women to work.
The industrial housing project comes more than two years after Foxconn’s employees protested against a food poisoning episode which resulted in temporary shutdown of the plant. Things were set right after intervention from the State government and Apple.
TRB Rajaa, Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu said Foxconn has been a long-standing trustworthy partner of Tamil Nadu. There was potential to scale this partnership multifold, he said.
