Labor Unrest Serves a Warning to India’s Investors

India has long looked away from the tinder-box that is industrial labor relations. That’s because its factories have mostly been peaceful, despite enormous levels of inequality. This week, however, violent protests broke out in a Delhi suburb over poor working conditions, ending that serenity. The many companies that have invested in the satellite city of Noida — including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp., as well as manufacturing giants like Samsung Electronics Co. — will worry that labor relations are finally breaking down.

Noida has long been a favored destination for companies large and small. They’ve been attracted to the suburb because of its carefully planned layout, years of targeted infrastructure investment, and the ready availability of comfortable, gated complexes for their senior employees to live. That it’s just a few minutes’ drive from the Indian capital’s leafy center doesn’t hurt.