Indian police have detained around 100 striking workers and union leaders protesting low wages at a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India, as they were planning a march on Monday without permission, police officials said.

The detention marks an escalation of a strike by workers at a Samsung home appliance plant near Chennai city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Workers want higher wages and have boycotted work for seven days, disrupting production that contributes roughly a third of Samsung's annual India revenue of $12 billion.

A senior police official of Kancheepuram district, Sankar Ganesh, told Reuters by telephone that around 100 workers were under "preventive arrest", without elaborating.

Another police officer on condition of anonymity said the detentions were made due to a lack of permission to hold a protest march.

Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.

Workers have since last week been protesting at a makeshift tent near the plant, demanding higher wages, recognition for a union backed by labour group Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and better working hours.

Samsung is not keen to recognise any union backed by an outside labour group.

A. Jenitan, a union leader of CITU, told Reuters that police also detained one of their senior leaders, E. Muthukumar, who was leading the Samsung protests.

"The workers have been asked to return to the (strike) tent," he said.