Micromax To Invest Rs 300 Crore In New Manufacturing Units

Indian smartphone manufacturer Micromax will invest Rs 300 crore to set up three new manufacturing units in India over the next few months as the company looks to cut reliance on imports.

The new plants will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana, and will be operational next year.

Micromax, the second largest seller of smartphones in India, aims to have a capacity of four million units once these plants are fully functional. It will invest Rs 100 crore in each plant.

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

"We will be able to provide employment to some 3,000-3,500 people in each factory. This is more than 'Make in India', it's about making India a hub for electronic manufacturing as our electronics (import) bills will overshoot our crude bills in the next few years given the heavy demand," Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal said.

Micromax has an assembly unit in Rudrapur which produces around 1 million units, supply one-third of the company's total demand for smartphone, imports from China account for the rest.

"The intent is to manufacture in India. We see that as an industry by 2017, we will start making batteries and other components here in India. It will only mature in the future and I am sure we can export to other markets from India as well," said Agarwal.

Global handset makers like Samsung and domestic players like Spice have assembly units in India.

International players like Xiaomi, Gionee and Asus have announced assembly units in partnership with electronics major Foxconn in Andhra Pradesh.

India's handset industry is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in the next few years.

Smartphone shipments in India grew 21.4 per cent in the July-September 2015 quarter to 28.3 million units, buoyed by a three-fold jump in demand for 4G-enabled devices, according to research firm IDC.

Samsung led the market with a 24 per cent share, followed by Micromax at 16.7 per cent, Intex (10.8 per cent), Lenovo Group (Lenovo and Motorola at 9.5 per cent) and Lava (4.7 per cent).