By Praveen Paramasivam and Munsif Vengattil
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) – Production will remain suspended indefinitely at a Tata Electronics plant in southern India that makes Apple iPhone components after a fire at the weekend, officials said on Monday as they acted to prevent further damage from the blaze.
“We have stationed fire engines at the plant as there are chances of a follow-up fire incident or smoke coming off when the sheds that had fallen during the accident are removed,” M. Velu, a district fire officer, told Reuters by telephone.
“We have not yet ascertained the cause of the fire.”
The fire broke out at the plant in Tamil Nadu state early on Saturday, leaving 10 people with minor injuries and halting production. It is the latest incident to affect Apple’s iPhone supply chain in India just as the tech giant is looking to diversify beyond China and sees India as a key growth market.
Apple has not commented on the incident, while Tata has said the cause of the fire is under investigation and emergency protocols at its plant ensured its employees were safe.
Rescue teams were still clearing debris on Monday and officials have struggled with inspections due to the extensive damage.
The plant makes critical back panels and some other components for iPhones. In the same complex, another building is due to start up iPhone assembly before the end of the year, but it’s not clear how it has been impacted.
District Collector K. M. Sarayu posted photos on X after visiting the Tata plant on Sunday which showed the building and some machines, as well as ceilings burnt and covered in soot.
A senior Indian health official, Shilpa Prabhakar Satish, who visited the plant on Sunday told Reuters it was “very badly burnt and (there was) absolutely no visibility inside”.
“The structure was falling, the roof was falling. No one could even go inside,” she said.
Tata Electronics, part of the $165 billion Indian salt-to-software Tata Group, is one of the major suppliers for Apple in India, along with Taiwan’s Foxconn.
(Writing by Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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