Nokia To Invest $20m In India

Nokia, the $8.5 billion global telecom major, will soon foray into telephony-related software development and research & development (R&D) in India and invest $20 million in the next few years. Nokia is currently awaiting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance. "

A pilot project has already been started and we are eyeing the market which is very promising," said Hannu Karavirta, managing director, Nokia Pvt Ltd.

"We have spent $10 million on customer service and brand building in India and will further strengthen our base in the country in the years to come," he said. "We will tap the cheap and skilled labour available and use India as a sourcing point for software exports."

 

Nokia is a global leader in mobile and fixed network systems as well as in mobile hand sets. The company has also set sights on expanding its R&D base in the country. "Currently we have an R&D agreement with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, which we would like to expand and may even have our own facility in the future," Karavirta said. Nokia has manufacturing bases in South Korea, Germany and Finland.

On Tuesday the telecom major signed an agreement with Modi Telstra here to renew supply of telecom equipment for the latter's network expansion programme. Telstra has sourced Rs 2.5 crore equipment from Nokia to augment its intelligent network operations.

The company had commissioned India's first cellular network for Modi Telstra in June 1995. Nokia has 10 offices in the country employing 200 telecom professionals and has set up six cellular network for different operators in India. "We have a host of new products in the pipeline which will be launched soon," Karavirta said.

The company, which pioneers in GSM technology, has a 32,000 workforce spanning across 40 countries and its products are sold in 120 countries.

"We will tap the cheap and skilled labour available and use India as a sourcing point for software exports"