According to a new report in the Financial Times on Friday, Apple, and its manufacturing supplier Foxconn, have been working hard to liberalize the employment laws in India, according to sources.

The new rules they have persuaded the government to adopt will allow the introduction of 12 hour shifts in Karnataka, a southern state, and allow women to work night-shifts.

Foxconn reportedly argued that the changes were necessary for the firm to me able to build efficient manufacturing at scale, and that the company will see a huge increase in productivity from being able to run two 12-hour shifts.

Foxconn and Apple have been shifting their production infrastructure out of China, following incidents where the nation’s strict Covid-19 rules impacted production, and disrupted the manufacture of new electronic devices. Some experts have theorized the companies see increasing tensions developing between Washington and Beijing, and they are moving operations to other nations to avoid any potential problems which could emerge in the future if geopolitical conditions deteriorate.

One week ago, the Karnataka government had announced it had set aside 300 acres for a new manufacturing plant, and that soon Apple’s iPhones would be assembled in their state.

According to an anonymous Indian government official, India’s objective now is the increase its work-output and efficiency, so as to become the next big manufacturing hub.