Building India’s ‘iPhone city’: Lessons from Zhengzhou’s transformation
By Dia Rekhi
Nov 17, 2024
Jenny Chan, associate professor of sociology at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University said Chinese local governments were instrumental in luring the likes of Foxconn to build these sprawling facilities.
“They not only offered land at very subsidised rates but also took on the mantle of building a lot of the social infrastructure for not just Foxconn but several foreign companies to bag the investments,” she said. “They also provided these companies with lucrative tax holidays or provided them with a very preferential tax rate for a certain period, making it an offer the companies could not refuse.”
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“In India, it seems to have a large female workforce which means it should look into the health, safety and security of the employees even further. Having social infrastructure is good but also providing them with adequate means to use that is what matters.”
She said free and quality healthcare is basic but that providing employees with health insurance, pensions and incentives in addition to wages was vital. Further, having periodic health checkups organised, especially for pregnant women, and coverage for health conditions caused by exposure to aluminium dust would be an added benefit.
Also, giving workers the right to organise—in the form of trade unions—could be another positive differentiating factor as opposed to China where there are no worker unions, she said.
Dying for an iPhone 