Written by Haripriya Suresh and Praveen Paramasivam
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian authorities are set to launch a criminal investigation into the cause of a fire that broke out on Saturday at a Tata Electronics factory that makes components for Apple Inc’s iPhones, an official in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu said on Sunday.
The plant, which had a weekly holiday on Sunday, was unlikely to get state permission to resume production by Monday, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Neither Tata Electronics nor Apple responded to requests for comment outside normal business hours. Tata Electronics had earlier said it was investigating the cause and would take steps to protect employees and other stakeholders.
This incident is the latest in recent years to affect Apple’s suppliers in India, as the American company works to diversify its supply chain outside of China, which it sees as a growth market.
A fire official told Reuters that the fire at the factory in the city of Hosur started in an area used to store chemicals.
District administrative officer KM Sarayu said the fire had been “completely extinguished” and the fumes had stopped.
She added that the two workers who were taken to the hospital are likely to leave on Sunday.
“We can now go to investigate,” Sarayu said, adding that a forensic team had been sent from the state capital, Chennai.
It was not clear whether the fire affected surrounding buildings, one of which is scheduled to begin assembling iPhones by the end of the year.
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