Overview
- State inspectors found in five visits between December 2025 and May 2026 that wastewater discharged into a rainwater-harvesting pond had overflowed and could have contaminated open wells on nearby farmland.
- The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board issued a warning notice on May 25 that threatened power disconnection or a forced shutdown unless Tata explained the regulator’s findings.
- District officials surveyed fields after farmers complained of foul-smelling discharge and lower crop yields, with on-site inspections reported by journalists during mid-June.
- Tata said it submitted an independent accredited-laboratory analysis and a formal response and told Reuters on June 16 that the pollution board confirmed the company had satisfactorily addressed queries and that recent regulator samples did not indicate contamination, while the board itself did not immediately comment to reporters.
- The Hosur factory makes iPhone back panels and other parts, so the dispute highlights both local impacts on farmers and the broader risk to Apple’s effort to diversify production in India, and the plant’s prior September 2024 fire adds to concerns about supplier resilience.