Lava resumes manufacturing operations with 20 pc capacity

Homegrown mobile phone maker Lava on Saturday said it has resumed manufacturing operations with 20 per cent capacity.

"Lava has resumed production at its manufacturing facility in Noida. The company has started operating with 20 per cent of its production capacity, post receiving an approval from the state authorities. 600 out of its 3500 workforce have resumed work," Lava said in a statement.

The factory has been shut since the time the government announced the coronavirus lockdown. However, it kept meeting export requirements through its facility in China, it added.

The government has given permission to mobile phone companies to start work at factories but the firms are expected to face bottlenecks in component supply and worker availability.

"We welcome the government's move to permit mobile phone companies to resume operations. Though, we might face some challenge due to the delayed availability of manpower & materials, we have sufficient inventory to maintain the pace of our production for the initial period.

"We are also expecting our components partners to open their factories soon," Lava Chief Manufacturing Officer Sanjeev Agarwal said.

He further said the company has accelerated efforts towards localisation of components to reduce dependency on imports.