(Reuters) – Apple and its supplier Foxconn were among the companies that lobbied for a landmark liberalisation of labour laws in the southern Indian state of Karnataka earlier this month, the Financial Times reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The legislation led to introduction of laws that now allows 12-hour shifts, as well as night-time work for women, similar to company practices in China, the report said. Apple has been shifting production away from China after the country’s strict COVID-related restrictions disrupted the manufacturing of new iPhones and other devices in the country and also to avoid a big hit to its business from tensions between Beijing and Washington. The report comes a week after the Karnataka government said that Apple Inc’s iPhones would soon be assembled in the state and that a total of 300 acres have been set aside for a factory.
Apple, Foxconn and the Karnataka government did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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