Chinese firms want to make mobile phones in India

With Chinese economy sliding and sale of mobiles saturating, over 100 Chinese firms plan to set up joint ventures in India to make mobile phones for local and global markets, an electronics apex body official said on Monday.

"Over 100 mobile phone and component manufactures from China are coming to New Delhi on January 13 to explore joint ventures in the country with Indian partners to make mobile phones for global market," Elcina representative Vinod Sharma told IANS here on the margins of an electronics event.

Organised by the mobile handset industry apex body Indian Cellular Association and China's mobile industry service platform Mobile World (Shoujibao), the visiting delegation will discuss collaborations and investment opportunities for setting up a manufacturing hub in the country.

"The delegation's visit is a part of China's 'Go to India' strategy for tapping the huge potential to manufacture electronics products in our country and meet the growing demand for smart phones with more features," said Sharma, who is managing director of Noida-based Deki Electronics Ltd.

As the Chinese move also meets the 'Make in India' initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government-promoted fast track task force will extend support to the apex bodies in setting up mobile handset and component manufacturing facilities in the country.

"We are committed to set up a robust mobile phones and component manufacturing ecosystem in the country to make India a manufacturing hub for mobile phones," ICA president and task force chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said in a statement here.

Major Chinese firms like Techno, Gionee, Coolpad, Holitech, Wingtech, Camera King, Galaxy Core, Poxiao, Vivo, Sprocomm, Nubia, ZTE, Meizu, Water World, Transsion, Huiye, Mafe, Obi, Sinwoo, Far-Sighted Mobile, Vikin, Miki, Sop, HuaLong, Wind-Mobi, Nuwei, Ramos and Huawei are expected to be part of the entourage to explore collaborative opportunities.

"Instead allowing Chinese firms to dump their products in India without quality and latest features or apps, it is better to allow them to come and make in India as it would bring investments and create thousands of jobs," said Sharma.

The day-long summit is an outcome of Modi's visit to China in May 2015 and the central government's efforts to woo investments and technology from Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) destinations like China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the US.

"Our companies are keen to participate in the 'Make in India' campaign and set up mobile handset & component manufacturing facilities here. I am sure they will invest in India, which offers a great opportunity for our industry," Mobile World founder and chief executive Wu said in the statement.

Set up by the department of information and technology to promote large-scale mobile manufacturing in India, the task force is mandated to achieve a production target of 500 million mobile phones and create 15 lakh jobs by 2019.