MVL Telecom to invest Rs 80 cr in R&D, service centres

Mobile handset maker MVL Telecom today announced it will invest about Rs 80 crore to set up three research and development centres in India and China, as part of its expansion plans in the Indian telecom market.

"We are looking at an investment of about Rs 70-80 crore. This will include setting up of two R&D centres in India and one in China. These (centres) would be responsible for product designing and development," MVL Chairman Premadip Rishi said.

The investment will also include establishment of four repair/service hubs in India to provide after-sales service to company customers, from basic servicing to component level repairing.

MVL, which also has a presence in real estate and consumer durables segment, today launched eight handset models, priced between Rs 1,400 and Rs 5,000.

"We are looking at selling seven million handsets in the next 12 months. This should get us a topline of Rs 1,500 crore by June 2011 from the telecom business," he said.

The company also plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Haryana. "We have bought the land in Haryana and the plant is expected to be operational by December 2011. It will have a capacity of 20 million handsets a year," Rishi said.