A 91 per cent subsidiary of Japanese electronics major Casio Computer Company Ltd, Casio India, at present claims 20 per cent of the Rs 6 crore Indian pager market, with sole competitor Motorola at 15 per cent.

``From October this year, we are aiming at 10,000 pager sales per month against the present 5,000. We have set ourselves this target keeping in mind the new cellular policy and also the launch of two new models,'' managing director of Casio India Yuji Tagami told PTI in an exclusive interview here on Sunday.

He vehemently denied recent reports that the company was closing down its pager business in India, terming these reports as ``malicious.''

``There is absolutely no truth in media reports that we are exiting the pager business. In fact, we are targeting a 100 per centincrease in pager sales keeping the future industry scenario in mind,'' Tagami said. Casio India manufactures pagers in its factory at Gurgaon where the installed capacity is 20,000 pagers per month, he said.

On the company's future plans, Yuji Tagami said Casio India had already launched three new products - digital diaries, calculators and label printers - in India in January this year.

At present, Casio India is importing all these products from Casio Singapore but plans to set up manufacturing facilities for each soon in the country. "At present, sales volumes do not justify production facilities for these new launches but we should see these in place within a year,'' Casio India's managing director said. Tagami said that unlike other countries, the Indian pager market had not begun to show negative growth. In fact, the government's new policy for in-coming cell calls should boost pager sales substantially.

Monthly cellular tariffs are going to be more than three times at Rs 600 against Rs 156presently. Besides, calls made to a cellular phone from a fixed phone will also cost three times more under the new policy, he said.