By Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s federal labour minister has urged the southern state of Tamil Nadu to address a prolonged strike by workers at Samsung Electronics, as reported on Wednesday.

The protests, the largest in India in recent years, are taking place at the South Korean group’s plant near Chennai. Over 1,000 of the 1,800 workers are demanding higher wages and recognition of their union, which has led to a disruption in operations.

In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya requested the state government to pursue an “early and amicable” resolution. The source who shared this information chose to remain anonymous as the document has not been publicly released.

Reuters could not independently verify the details of the letter.

As of now, neither Samsung nor the Tamil Nadu government has responded to Reuters’ requests for comments.

This labour unrest, which began on September 9, poses challenges to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to attract foreign investment in manufacturing and aims to triple electronics production to $500 billion within six years.

The Tamil Nadu plant contributes roughly one-third of Samsung’s annual revenue of $12 billion in India.

Samsung has defended its wages, claiming that workers in the Tamil Nadu facility are compensated almost twice as much as those at neighboring companies. The company’s HR team in India has also communicated to some striking employees that pay may be withheld for days not worked.