Morale of the industry at all-time low, says ICEA on Lava MD arrest

Morale of the mobile manufacturing industry has hit an all-time low with the arrest of Hari Om Rai, founder of homegrown device maker Lava International, industry body ICEA said on Saturday.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Rai in an alleged money laundering case against Chinese smart devices maker Vivo.

"We understand that the morale of the industry has hit an all time low and national champions are feeling very demoralised. We want to assure them that we have full confidence in India's regulatory and judicial system and we are sure that he (Rai) will emerge from the clouds and continue to champion the development of our industry which is critical in building the nation," ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said in a statement.

ED raided Vivo and its linked persons in July last year, claiming to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies.

The ED had then alleged that a whopping Rs 62,476 crore was "illegally" transferred by Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India.

ICEA said that Rai is one of India's tallest and most inspirational business leaders.

"His contribution in the massive growth in mobile phone manufacturing in India is well acknowledged by all the stakeholders which has resulted in creation of USD 44 billion mobile manufacturing ecosystem with more than 1 million new jobs. He made sure that Lava survived as a national brand and is the last man standing," Mohindroo said.

Lava is the only Indian mobile phone company that has survived the post influx of Chinese device makers in the country with aggressive pricing.

The company currently has less than two per cent market share in the smartphone segment but leads the feature phone segment with about 25 per cent share, as per industry estimates.

Early this month, Lava announced plans to invest up to Rs 600 crore in product development and marketing to grow business about 5-fold and capture 10 per cent market share in sub-Rs 30,000 smartphone segment.