Micromax to invest Rs 300 crore for 'Make in India' projects

Indian smartphone maker Micromax has announced that it will invest Rs. 300 crores to set up three manufacturing units in the country as part of 'Make in India' initiative. The manufacturing units will be set up in Rajasthan, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh. The company will invest Rs. 100 crore each in these three facilities.

Micromax has been allotted 20 acres of land in Telangana and 25 acres in Rajasthan for the manufacturing plants. The construction on both these plants will begin soon, while the location for the Andhra Pradesh will be decided soon.

Once all the three manufacturing plants become operational, Micromax with have a capacity to produce of about 4 million units. Micromax also aims to provide employment to about 3,500 people in each factory. At present, the company has an assmble unit in Rudrapur, Uttarkhand that produces one million units which accounts for about 30 to 35 percent of its requirement, the rest are imported from China.

By 2017, the company aims to producing batteries and other components in India, and eventually export to other markets from as well. The move to boost domestic production comes from Micromax to reduce dependence on imports from China. Usually what Micromax used to do is, import handset from China, and re-brand them for release in India.

Earlier this year in October, Micromax along with Lava, Celkon and Karbonn announced that they will set up manufacturing units at Sri Venkateshwara Mobile and Electronics Manufacturing hub in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, under the Make in India initiative.

India is now the Country of Interest for smartphone manufacturers. Global handset makers like Samsung and domestic players like Spice already have assembly units in India. International brands like Xiaomi, Gionee and Asus have announced assembly units in partnership with electronics major Foxconn in Andhra Pradesh in the recent past.

India's smartphone industry is poised to overtake the United States as the second largest market in the next few year. Smartphone shipments in India grew 21.4 percent in Q3 2015 (July to September) to 28.3 million units, with a jump in demand for 4G-enabled devices. At present, Samsung (24 percent), Micromax (16.7 percent), Intex (10.8 percent), Lenovo Group (Lenovo & Motorola at 9.5 percent) and Lava (4.7) are the top five smartphone brands in India.

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