Micromax, a Gurgaon-based mobile handset company, plans to set up a research and development centre in China by the year-end at an investment of Rs 50 crore.
"We will set up a R&D centre in Shanghai at an investment of Rs 50 crore by December 2009. The centre will help us customise our phones at the manufacturing level company, since we import from China. The software development will continue in Gurgaon," Micromax business director Vikas Jain told PTI.
He said the company would employ 40 people in the Shanghai centre.
The company is also contemplating manufacturing mobile phones at its facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.
The company recently launched the cheapest 3G handset, H360, in partnership with state-run MTNL. H360 will be exclusively available to MTNL customers at a price of Rs 5,500, which will be the cheapest 3G handset in India.
Micromax has a partnership with BSNL for sale and distribution of 3G data cards to subscribers.
"Our main target is to enter the urban market now. Till now we have been a Tier-II and Tier-III player. Soon we are going to open 100 exclusive stores in four metros and Tier-I cities," Sharma said. The company claims to sell about half-a-million handsets in a month and is targeting to sell six million units this year, he said.
