Smartphones maker Vivo plans to invest Rs 3,500 crore in two years to boost its manufacturing facility in India and start exporting devices from the country this year, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Vivo India Director (Business Strategy) Paigam Danish told PTI that the investment is part of the Rs 7,500-crore commitment that the company made for India and it has already invested Rs 1,900 crore from total till 2021.
"We have already invested Rs 1,900 crore till 2021. We will invest Rs 3,500 crore by 2023, and then in our next phase, we are committed to investing Rs 7,500 crore. These are investments in manufacturing only," Danish said.
He added that the company meets all the local demands for mobile phones from its plants located in Greater Noida and is now looking to start exporting handsets from India.
"We are capable enough to handle exports and thus from 2022, we are planning to start exports from India to other countries. This shows how strong we have become in the past seven years to fulfil the requirements of the Indian market and cater to other markets as well," Danish said.
He added that Vivo has crossed 10 crore consumers in the Indian market.
According to market research firm IDC, Vivo occupied third spot, after Xiaomi and Samsung, with a 15.6 per cent market share in 2021.
Vivo has set a target to double the smartphone production capacity in India to 12 crore annually from six crore at present and take the employee base to 40,000 after investing the entire amount of Rs 7,500 crore.
"We will be hiring 5,000 additional people by 2023 for our manufacturing unit," Danish said.
Vivo India has 10,000 employees at its manufacturing unit at present.
The company has acquired another 169 acres of land in Greater Noida where it is developing its new manufacturing unit.
Danish said the company is now enhancing local procurement.
"We are developing the entire ecosystem, which means focusing on local procurement. Ninety-five per cent of batteries are being sourced locally and 60 per cent of chargers.
"We aim to increase local sourcing of chargers to 75 per cent by 2024 and 65 per cent of display by 2023. As a result, we will build the Indian market by providing more employment," he said.
