Tata’s iPhone Parts Factory Contaminated Farmland Water In Hosur
bengaluru : An Indian pollution regulator has claimed that wastewater discharged from a Tata parts factory for Apple’s iPhone is contaminating the groundwater of nearby farms and warned of a forced closure unless Tata provides a satisfactory explanation.
India’s Tata Electronics is at the center of Apple’s effort to diversify iPhone production beyond China and is Apple’s second-largest supplier in South Asia after Taiwan’s Foxconn.
The Tata factory under scrutiny is located in Hosur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and produces back panels and other components for iPhones. Owners of agricultural land near the plant had complained to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board for months that wastewater from the factory was polluting their land and open wells.
The complaints led to five government inspections between December 2025 and May 2026, according to details in a May 25 regulatory notice reviewed by Reuters that have not been previously reported.
In the warning notice sent by the pollution board to Tata, inspections found that Tata discharged wastewater into the rainwater collection pool inside the facility and that the pool overflowed, polluting “the groundwater in open wells in adjacent agricultural lands.”
The three-page notice said Tata had not taken any corrective measures as per the directions issued by the pollution board in the previous letter dated December 23, 2025.
Tata Electronics said in a statement to Reuters that it had commissioned an independent analysis through an accredited laboratory and that the study determined that the company was “in full compliance with all regulatory norms”.
Tata said it was “committed to responsible business practices and the protection of the environment and local communities” and had responded to pollution authorities, although it did not provide further details.
In its May notice, the pollution board asked Tata to explain why electricity to the unit should not have been cut and that the unit had to be shut down due to alleged violations of rules.
Apple and the Tamil Nadu government, which has strict rules on how its suppliers treat wastewater, did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
APPLE’S STRUGGLES IN INDIA
Companies often face disciplinary action from pollution authorities in India. In 2024 Mercedes-Benz improved wastewater and air pollution management at its only automobile factory in India after authorities found non-compliance with environmental laws.
India’s environment ministry told parliament in February that 4.4% of 544,364 industries were found not to comply with environmental standards in the last five years, and 3,600 industries were closed by pollution control departments.
The Tata notice adds to a host of problems plaguing Apple’s Indian supply chain. A fire at Tata’s Hosur factory in September 2024 halted iPhone component production for a short time, while a fire at former supplier Pegatron’s iPhone factory in September 2023 halted production for days.
In 2024, a Reuters investigation found that major Apple supplier Foxconn systematically excluded married women from iPhone assembly jobs at one of its factories in India; however, the company stated at the time that it complied with all laws.
According to research firm Counterpoint, India is expected to produce 26% of all iPhones worldwide by 2026; this rate was only 6% four years ago.
