Apple manufacturer Pegatron to invest $150 million on facilities in India

The board of Pegatron, Apple’s second largest contract manufacturer, has approved an initial investment of approximately US $150 million (Rs 1100 crore) for building manufacturing facilities in India, reports India’s Economic Times.

The contract manufacturer’s factory in India is expected to start production in the second half of next year or in early 2022 and the company plans to make more investments in India over the next two years, CEO Liao Syh-jang said in an investor conference last week. The details were reported in the Taiwanese local media.

This may help get Pegatron — an electronics manufacturing company that develops mainly computing, communications and consumer electronics to branded vendors — back in Apple’s good graces. On Nov. 9, Bloomberg reported that Apple had suspended new business with iPhone assembler Pegatron after discovering labor violations at a student workers’ program.

The tech giant said it discovered several weeks ago that the Taiwanese manufacturer misclassified student workers and allowed some to work nights and overtime in violation of Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct. Employees then “went to extraordinary lengths” to cover up the violations, according to Bloomberg. It’s since placed its partner on probation until corrective action is completed.