Handset maker Gionee will set up a manufacturing unit in northern India, pumping in about Rs 500 crore, to tap into the demand in India as well as to serve markets like Africa and South East Asia.
The Chinese company, which assembles its smartphones in India through third-party players like Foxconn and Dixon, expects the plant to be operational in about 2 years.
“We are in process of getting land in northern India. The 50-acre unit have an annual capacity of 30 million units. It should be operational in about two years,” Gionee India MD and CEO Arvind Vohra told PTI. He declined however to share details about the location of the plant.
“It will be an end-to-end manufacturing unit. It will help us cater to demand in India as well as nearby markets and African region. We will invest about Rs 500 crore on the plant,” Vohra said.
About 60 per cent of Gionee India's devices sold in the country are manufactured locally at facilities run by Foxconn (Tamil Nadu) and Dixon (Noida). According to research firm IDC, smartphone shipments in India grew 17.1 per cent sequentially to 27.5 million units in April-June quarter, with Chinese vendors like lenovo, Xioami, Gionee and Vivo driving the growth.