Flextronics to set mfg facility at Chennai

By agencies   |   Friday, 07 October 2005, 19:30 IST
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CHENNAI: A $16 billion global electronic manufacturing services provider Flextronics, is to set up its manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur (around 40km from Chennai, Tamil Naudu). Announcing this the company’s President and Managing Director, Asia, Peter Tan said that the company will invest $70-100 million in the plant for the first five years. The manufacturing plant will be operational by June 2006 and Flextronics is planning to employ 2,000 people in the first 18 months. The company expects to get annual revenue of $200 million from the plant, Tan said. An agreement has been signed between Tan and Rameshram Mishra, State Industries Secretary for the facility, which will be designated as a special economic zone (SEZ). Lower cost was not the only factor for setting up the facility in Chennai, he said adding: “We are going to get extra revenue from the Chennai facility and it will increase the company’s existing operations, including manufacturing facilities in Bangalore and Pondicherry as well as software and hardware design centers in Bangalore, Chennai and Gurgaon.” The plant will offer the company's integrated services, including plastic injection moulding, printed circuit board assembly, set top boxes, handsets, distribution, logistics and repair services. It would also support manufacturing requirements of the company's local and global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as Nortel, he said. Tan said: “Our decision to set up the facility in Chennai was not influenced by Nokia. We had been working on this project for the last six months. The plant would help us to tap the large domestic market and export to countries in West Asia.” Flextronics currently employs over 5,000 people in India. In China, Flextronics employs around 24,000 people, and a similar kind of number could be expected in Chennai in the next ten years, Tan added.