Motorola to begin assembling phones locally from Dec

Motorola, the world's second largest handset manufacturer, today said it will begin assembling mobile phones in India by next month. This is part of the first step in the US giants' multi-phase manufacturing strategy in the country.

"Assembly is the first step in a multi-phased manufacturing strategy deployed by the company. The assembling of Motorola C115 (a sub $40 entry level) handset will be done by one of the MNC partners in India," Allen Burnes, corporate vice-president, Motorola Device Business, told reporters on Wednesday.

Burnes declined to name the partner, the capacity of the plant and also the investments towards manufacturing in India.

Industry sources, however, told Business Standard that Motorola had entered into an agreement with Flextronics for assembling handsets in India. Flextronics executives, however, refused to comment.

Motorola executives also added that the company would submit its bid for the Bharat Sanchar Nigam's tender for 60 million GSM lines. "We will manufacture GSM equipment in India, as per the tender clause. But it will be done in association with a different partner," said Amit Sharma, country president, Motorola India.

On Monday, Motorola had announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Bharti Teletech to extend the handset vendor's reach across metros, cities and to the smallest towns in India.

The move is bound to increase Motorola's market share in the country, as its handsets would now be available at Bharti Teletech's outlets across the country.

Bharti Teletech's distribution presence constitutes a network of over 250 distributors and more than 11,000 retailers.