Three contract workers die after inhaling gas at Tata iPhone parts plant in Tamil Nadu

Three contract workers died late Monday, Nov. 9, at a Tata Electronics plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, that makes components for Apple iPhones.

The deaths occurred while the men were working on the plant's effluent treatment plant, or ETP. Dinesh Kumar, a senior official in Krishnagiri district, said the workers inhaled gas while inspecting an external nano-filtration tank. They were taken to a private hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival, Kumar told The New Indian Express.

What officials have said

Kumar said the ETP was operated by Nalco Water, a unit of U.S.-headquartered Ecolab. The workers were part of a group assigned to clean the effluent treatment plant.

The men were between 25 and 32 years old, The Independent reported. That outlet also reported that local officials noted a lack of proper safety measures and halted operations at the effluent treatment plant pending a review. The other accounts of Monday's incident do not mention that halt, and no official has publicly detailed what the safety shortfalls were.

Tamil Nadu's industries minister, Virudhai Magal Keerthana, said in a post on X that the deaths will be "thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings."

State officials and two industry sources with direct knowledge said Apple, Tata and the state authorities will all investigate. No findings have been released, and no charges or penalties have been announced.

Tata Electronics, Apple and Nalco Water did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Production not affected

The two industry sources said production has not been affected. The facility was closed this week for the Hindu festival of Deepavali.

The timing also bears on the practical picture. The plant was not running a full shift when the men died, yet maintenance crews were working on a treatment system that can hold dangerous gases. Officials have not said whether the gas was toxic by design, a byproduct of the cleaning work or something else.

A plant with a rough year

Tata's electronics unit accounts for roughly 40% of iPhone assembly in India. Foxconn makes the rest. India now produces roughly 25% of the world's iPhones, making it Apple's most important manufacturing base outside China.

The Hosur site has had a rocky stretch:

• A fire halted production at the components plant in 2024.
• State authorities warned of a shutdown this year over alleged groundwater contamination, then dropped the matter.
• A ransomware breach at an adjacent iPhone plant in the same compound leaked documents tied to Apple's then-unreleased iPhone 18 Pro, according to earlier Reuters reporting.

None of those earlier incidents has been tied to Monday's deaths. They do show a single site carrying a large share of Apple's India output while repeatedly drawing regulators' attention.

Open questions

The key facts are not yet public. Officials have not said which company employed the three men, who was supervising the work, or whether gas monitoring and breathing equipment were in place. Kumar has said only that the workers inhaled gas, and a cause beyond that has not been given.

Responsibility is also unsettled. The ETP was run by Nalco Water, the plant belongs to Tata Electronics, and the end customer is Apple. Each is expected to examine the incident, alongside the state.

The state government's investigation, and whether it produces findings and action as the industries minister promised, will show who answers for the deaths of three men who went to work on a treatment tank and did not come out.