As part of the Telangana government’s initiatives to boost manufacturing, Hyderabad is all set to become a mobile manufacturing hub. As part of this, the state government and the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) have agreed to establish a first-of-its-kind mobile manufacturing hub in Hyderabad.
“The state government and the companies have entered into a broad understanding to set up the country’s first mobile phone manufacturing hub in Hyderabad,” the chief minister’s office said in a statement. The project is expected to generate 1,50,000-2,00,000 jobs.
Leading mobile phone manufacturers, including Celkon, Karbonn, Foxconn and others, have expressed their willingness to be partners in the hub. Representatives of the mobile phone manufacturers have also inspected lands in Mamidipalli, Raviral and Maheshwaram in Ranga Reddy district and said that they found the location suitable to set up manufacturing units.
“Though Telangana is a late entrant compared to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, there is a lot of potential in the state to start manufacturing activities,” Pankaj Mahindroo, national president of ICA, said on the sidelines of the launch of the Telangana Industrial Policy.
Karbonn mobiles chairman Sudhir Hasija, Celkon MD Y Guru and senior officials from Foxconn recently called on chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao regarding the establishment of the hub. ICA is the apex body of the mobile industry comprising manufacturers, brand owners, and application and solution providers. Some of its prominent members include Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, Gionee, Blackberry, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Micromax, Karbonn, Spice, Intex and Lava.
Mahindroo said that the handset industry grew to R75,000 crore by the end of 2014, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28% and expected to touch R1,00,000 crore by the end of his fiscal. Foxconn, which manufactures Apple’s iPhones in China, is planning to develop 10-12 facilities in India and Telangana could cash in on the opportunity, he added.
Meanwhile, ICA is in the process of finalising the draft guidelines for mobile manufacturing. “In the next eight weeks, we will be submitting the draft report to facilitate mobile manufacturers,” Mahindroo said. With a $12-billion mobile market, growing at a CAGR of over 30%, India is today the second largest and fastest growing mobile handset market in the world. “We are indeed in the midst of this digital revolution. We have been working with industry stakeholders and various governments — both at the central and state level, towards this objective; working as a bridge between industry and governments to create the right policy and regulatory framework; providing a platform to global cellular companies to understand the Indian market and facilitate their entry; and undertake serious research and studies to create a knowledge bank,” he added.
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