Mobile makers focus on manufacturing in India

Mobile companies have been mulling manufacturing facilities in India for
sometime now, but a concerted effort to encourage production of cellular
handsets in India has just begun. The Indian Cell-ular Association (ICA) is
preparing a detailed report on creating a long-term pro-duction base for mobile
handset makers. A committee to study the market is also on the anvil.

The ICA’s detailed ‘position paper’ would give a com-pre-hensive
picture of the Indian market that would help mobile phone companies de-cide on
investing in the coun-try. The ICA is made up of members from major mobile phone
manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung, Sony Eric-sson, Siemens, Motorola and LG.
The proposed committee to study the market would include representatives from
the ICA, the mobile industry and ministries of telecom, commerce and finance.

According to Pankaj Mohin-droo, President, ICA, India’s mobile handset
market is exp-anding and at least three companies are considering setting up
manufacturing units in India. But, he didn’t elaborate further. Nokia had
reportedly decided to set up a production facility in India, but later shelved
the plan because the market wasn’t big enough. However, the Indian market is
poised to grow significantly in light of red-uction in duty. This has also
helped reduced the gray market share. The Indian han-dset market is estimated to
cross $3.3 billion this year with the share of GSM phones being $1.8 billion
followed by $1.3 billion for CDMA mob-iles. According to ICA, steps such as
reduction in duty on accessories, parts and spares would help the market grow
further. (CyberMedia News)

M Chhaya

Kolkata