Probe into violence at iPhone plant on

Bengaluru: Investigations into the recent violence at the Wistron's iPhone manufacturing plant are on and a report was likely in a couple of days, Karnataka Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar said on Wednesday even as he expressed hope about the factory restarting soon, with the Centre also involved in addressing the issues.

Asserting that the government was there to protect the interest of the labourers, the Minister, however, said such incidents may have an adverse impact on the investment and job creation prospects in the State. Wistron Corp, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple, has informed the Taiwan Stock Exchange that the December 12 violence at the iPhone manufacturing facility at Narsapura in Kolar district, did not cause any material damage to major manufacturing equipment and warehouses.

It put preliminary damage estimates in the range of New Taiwan Dollar 100 to 200 million, which is about Rs 52 crore. Earlier reports, quoting the complaint by company officials to the local police station, had put the estimate at about Rs 437 crore.

"There is no employees union as yet … there was immaturity on the part of the labourers. Also, the company should have paid attention towards the contractors. We will get to know in a couple of days the exact information on how much amount was paid (towards workers) and when," Hebbar said.

The Minister said meetings have taken place at the government level and also with the Union Cabinet Secretary from Delhi … the Centre is also involved. The company has said it will try to start the factory in about 15 days, he said.