After Samsung, UP govt promises land to electronics majors

Xiaomi component suppliers, Haier, Vivo, Ziox looking for land in Greater Noida

Enthused by Korean electronics major Samsung launching the world’s biggest mobile handset unit in Greater Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government has said it would help other consumer electronics companies seeking industrial land for their plants.

While Chinese electronics companies such as Haier and Vivo are planning to set up their manufacturing units in Greater Noida, mobile phone component manufacturers are also scouting for suitable land for their respective factories in the region.

“We would provide all necessary support, including land to electronics manufacturing companies to set up their units in UP,” state industrial development minister Satish Mahana told Business Standard adding the government was already in the process of providing land to Haier and Vivo.

In April 2018, top Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi had hosted 50 of its global component suppliers based in Japan, Korea and Taiwan in Greater Noida for a ‘Suppliers’ Summit’ to showcase opportunities in India. These suppliers were also taken to Andhra Pradesh as an alternative destination. Xiamo has pegged potential investment in the segment at almost Rs 150 billion with Greater Noida pegged as the preferred location.

“Greater Noida has emerged as a major hub for mobile phone manufacturing, since it is equipped with necessary logistics and infrastructure support for industry,” Xiaomo India head (online sales) Raghu Reddy said here.

The fact, he noted, that the company zeroed in on Greater Noida to host its component suppliers showed the confidence that the industry had reposed on the policies and development roadmap of the incumbent Yogi Adityanath government.

Reddy further claimed some component manufacturers suppliers were already scouting for land in Greater Noida for their Greenfield units, since India offered huge growth potential given the explosive growth of the mobile phone industry. Xiaomi runs six plants in India in partnership with Foxconn and Hipad in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Greater Noida.

Currently, India is among the top three mobile phone markets in the world apart from the US and China.

Over the years, Greater Noida has emerged as the preferred location for the mobile phone companies with the combined manufacturing capacity of about 150 million devices per annum. While, Haier is looking to invest Rs 32 billion in its greenfield plant in Noida, Vivo had sought about 150 acres of land in Greater Noida flanking the Yamuna Expressway for their proposed mega integrated mobile phone unit. Their representatives had also called upon Mahana in Lucknow, who promised all help to companies looking to invest in the electronics manufacturing sector in the state.

Domestic handset maker Ziox Mobiles had also disclosed plans to invest about Rs 500 million in its greenfield plant in Noida.

At UP Investors Summit 2018 on February 21-22, the Adityanath government had netted investment proposals of Rs 55 billion in electronics manufacturing sector.