Boost To Make In India, Salcomp To Buy Nokia's Defunct Plant In Chennai

Imran Fazal - Nov 07, 2019

Salcomp will manufacture mobile chargers and other variables which will also be exported throughout the world.

In a mega boost to Make In India project, Finland based Salcomp has planned to buy Nokia's defunct plant located in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. The tech giant plans to invest 20 billion rupees to manufacture chargers and smartphone variables. Recently, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad confirmed the development and claimed that this would generate 10,000 jobs in India. Salcomp supplies chargers to Apple in a huge quantity. Indian made Apple phones will be exported worldwide and will generate revenue worth $1.6 billion (roughly Rs. 11,500 crores) by the end of financial year 2020.

It should be noted that Apple has started manufacturing iPhone XR in India by their local unit of Foxconn and its assembly line via Wistron in Bengaluru. Ravi Shankar Prasad had confirmed that Salcomp will manufacture chargers and other equipment which will be diversified in the mobile industry. He also revealed that the tech giant will invest 20 billion at the Chennai unit in next five years. He also stated that India's exports of smartphones had risen to $1.6 billion in 2018-19 from $200 million in 2017-18. Exports in 2019-20 will be $1.6 billion from mobile phones and $1.6 billion from electronic components.

The Indian government has cut corporate taxes during its last session inorder to attract tech companies like Apple, Foxconn and Wistron. It also aims to initiate tax reforms for companies investing in India to fasten Make In India project. Moreover, India is also leveraging the tussle between China and Washington. This will give a boost to Indian market manufacturing system for mobile phones and its components.

Sources revealed that earlier Flex (earlier Flextronics) had shown interest in buying 1 million sq.ft factory located inside 212 acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Sasikumar Gendham, Salcomp India MD stated that compared to its competitors such as Vietnam, India has an advantage of its base market unlike others. Export policies on mobile phones is a mega shift and it would benefit the Indian economy.