As uncertainty continues on the reopening of the Foxconn plant at Sriperumbudur which manufactures Apple phones, a Tamil Nadu government official said the plant will possibly re-open later this week.

The State government has cleared two hostels. The Foxconn management is in discussion with Apple. They will open later this week, he said.

The company’s employees, mostly women, are staying in nearly a dozen hostels in both Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. Immediately after the problem, a couple of hostels were vacated by the employees.

Both Apple and Foxconn officials did not respond to BusinessLine ’s queries on the plant’s reopening.

Union officials are clueless as to when the plant will be reopened. When asked, they also maintained the same stand as the State government saying that discussions are going on between Foxconn and Apple.

Work at the plant was suspended for over two weeks with workers demanding quality food. This came after food poisoning for over 100 workers, and their colleagues protesting outside the plant asking the company to improve food quality and hygiene conditions at the hostels.

Basic amenities such as adequate accommodation, bathroom, toilet, drinking water and airy rooms should be provided and infrastructure should be improved, they demanded.

The plant was to reopen last Monday with about 10 per cent staff strength after the company offered paid leave for the 15,000 plus employees. However, the reopening was pushed to Thursday as certain works were yet to be completed at the hostels where the employees were staying. Even this was delayed.

Following the trouble, Apple kept Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility on ‘probation’ and will ensure that strict standards are met before the facility reopens. “We will continue to monitor conditions closely,” its spokesperson had earlier said.

A statement from Foxconn Technology Group earlier said, “The safety and wellbeing of our employees is our top priority. We have been investigating recent issues at our Sriperumbudur facility in Tamil Nadu and have found that some offsite dormitory facilities do not meet the required standards.

"We are very sorry for the issues our employees experienced and are taking immediate steps to enhance the facilities and services we provide at the remote dormitory accommodations.

Meanwhile, local media in Beijing last week claimed that Foxconn is expanding its recruitment across its plants in Mainland China with higher wages and bonuses due to the closure of plant at Sriperumbudur.