D-Link Corporation of Taiwan owns 51 per cent stake in D-Link India. Sapphire Network Plc will hold 51 per cent stake in the Indian joint venture with D-Link India. The new company is investing around Rs 7-8 crore at Goa for a passive components plant. The company will be making the entire range of passive networking components including batch panels, batch chords, jacks, fibre connectors (SC/ST).

The company will outsource cables to provide complete structured cabling hardware to customers.

This is the first manufacturing foray of the D-Link group in passive components. The group has expertise in active networking components and assembles modems, PCBs, routers, hubs, switches, ISDNrouters at its Goa unit.

D-Link India is starting another assembly unit at Goa for its active networking components. The company posted a turnover of Rs 71.5 crore in 1998-99. The new joint venture is expected to register a turnover of Rs 20 crore in 1999-2000.

Keith White of Sapphire Networks Plc, who was in Taiwan for signing the agreement with D-Link, told The Financial Express: "The D-Link group is treating the Indian joint venture with us a testing ground for passive components."

"D-Link is not too confident about passive components and this venture is much like the proverbial guinea pig and they are planning to make it run fast," White added. D-Link's marketing manager AC Mehta said, "the products of the company will be branded both as D-Link and Sapphire for different markets. We will be using the D-Link brand name in India but in some foreign markets where the Sapphire name is better known we will use that brand name."