Lenovo starts smartphone manufacturing in India

China's Lenovo today said it has started making smartphones in India through contract manufacturer Flextronics, as it looks to cut cost to take on competition.

The Flextronics' unit at Sriperumbudur near Chennai has already started rolling out two of Moto E smartphone's 4G variants and will start making another 4G device Lenovo K3 note, soon.

The 40,000 square feet plant is the first to rollout both Lenovo and Motorola brands. Lenovo had acquired Motorola last year.

The factory currently has a capacity of making 6 million smartphone units.

The company said that both Lenovo and Motorola will have separate manufacturing lines at the same facility which will house 1,500 employees.

The move follows Foxconn Technology beginning production of smartphones in the country for Chinese brands including Xiaomi and OnePlus after the government raised import tariffs to attract investment in manufacturing.

Lenovo India Chairman and COO, Asia Pacific Amar Babu said that the company expects its partner to source about 30 per cent components locally. "We are talking to government to improve availability of components locally to improve the total value of devices."

He said the phones produced in the plant is focused mainly on serving the Indian market, while the company has no immediate plans to design and develop phones specifically for the country.

"Outside China, this is the only facility where both Lenovo and Motorola smartphones are being manufactured," Babu said.

The idea is to integrate the supply chains of Lenovo and Motorola for manufacturing, even though the two will remain distinctly different brands, he added.

Lenovo has a plant in Pondicherry which manufactures ThinkPads and personal computers.

Bubu further said, "The Indian government's thrust on 'Make in India' has opened up a plethora of opportunities for organizations looking to conduct business in India.