New Delhi: The vandalism at iPhone manufacturer Wistron’s facility in Karnataka by a section of employees last week was “unfortunate but not the norm”, said Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
“India has by and large very cordial labour management relations in place and that is the reason so many industries are here,” he told ThePrint in an interview.
There was violence at the Wistron iPhone plant in Kolar district of Karnataka last week by a section of employees over alleged non-payment of salaries.
The Centre, Mohapatra said, has been in constant talks with the state government including the chief secretary since the incident was reported, to calm down frayed tempers and reassure potential investors.
“We have told the state government to inquire into the whole issue and ensure that normalcy is established at the earliest. Proactive discussions should take place and improvement should happen on better labour management,” the DPIIT secretary said.
Mohapatra said the Centre is ready to provide whatever support the state government requires from the Government of India. “The state will have to ensure such incidents are not repeated and there is a sense of security,” he said.
The violence at the Wistron facility comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government is making all out efforts to attract investments and give a boost to the manufacturing ecosystem in the country. According to government sources, there is a growing concern that an incident like this at a time when the Centre is trying to global manufacturers to relocate to India by giving them various incentives could derail the whole process and dampen the investment spirit.
Also read: ‘Missing’ contractors key to solving mystery of Wistron iPhone plant attack, police begin hunt
‘Expecting many proposals to fructify’
Speaking about the investment climate, Mohapatra said a number of reform measures have been taken to improve this and the government is receiving a lot of investment queries.
“We expect a lot of investment proposals will get fructified as a response to the host of reforms including labour and agrarian reforms,” he said.
The government has initiated a slew of reforms recently to make India an attractive investment destination.
In September, the Parliament passed three labour codes, simplifying the archaic laws related to industrial relations, occupation safety, health and working conditions, and social security. The laws had been in the making since 2003.
The Parliament also passed three farm laws that have come up with new rules for contract farming and will also allow farmers to sell their produce outside the mandis. These laws are facing a major backlash from the farmer community, with lakhs of them protesting at the Delhi borders for nearly three weeks now.
Elaborating on these reforms, the DPIIT secretary said the Modi government made major changes to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy due to which contract manufacturing and single-brand retail became possible.
“We introduced the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to provide incentives to global manufacturers to relocate to India. Many electronics manufacturers are coming to India,” Mohapatra added.
Addressing the 93rd FICCI annual convention on 12 December, federal think-tank Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant had termed the PLI scheme in the mobile phone sector a resounding success. He said all top global manufacturers of the likes of Apple and its suppliers Wistron, Pegatron, Foxconn are relocating and coming to India.
“Samsung has also invested in India, and is now expanding in a very big way,” Kant had said.
The PLI scheme, which started off with the mobile and electronics manufacturing sector, has now been expanded to another 10 sectors, including electronics technology products, automobile, pharmaceutical, telecom and textile, among others.
Also read: Will ensure justice for Wistron, says top industry body after Karnataka iPhone plant violence
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