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Salcomp to double Indian plant's capacity
Tuesday, 11 September 2007, 19:30 IST
Sriperumbudur: Salcomp Manufacturing India, a subsidiary of the Finnish mobile charger manufacturer Salcomp Plc, plans to double its capacity to meet the growing Indian demand for cell phones.
Salcomp's Euro 9 million plant at Sriperumbudur has eight production lines to make 33 million chargers a year.
"Soon, four more lines will be added to take the capacity to 50 million units. There is sufficient space to add 12 more lines. We hope to triple our investment here," Markku Hangasjarvi, president and CEO of Salcomp plc, told the media here Tuesday.
Located inside the Nokia Telecom Park, a special economic zone (SEZ), Salcomp will initially supply to Nokia India and later to others who are present in India.
According to Arto Makela, director (Indian Operations), the company will start exports sometime in 2008-09, targeting to ship out 10 percent of the production.
Initially, Salcomp's exports will be tied to those of Nokia as each handset has a charger unit. Subsequently, Salcomp will ship its chargers on its own to other markets like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"Presently these markets are served by our Chinese plant," Makela said.
While the three million and odd chargers made at the Indian plant till date have only five percent local content, Salcomp plans to localise all its component needs soon.
"Some of our vendors are setting up their production units in India. The pace of localisation would depend on our vendors," Makela added.
The Indian plant employs around 800 people of which nearly 75 percent are women.According to Hangasjarvi, the number of workers will be increased to 1,000 shortly and to 2,000 in a year.
Speaking at the inaugural function, Finland's ambassador to India Asko Numminen said that the setting up of the Salcomp plant in Tamil Nadu shows the investment environment available in the state.
Tamil Nadu's Social Welfare Minister Poongothai appreciated Salcomp's corporate social responsibility initiative of sponsoring 100,000 copies of a book on pregnancy and maternity health for free distribution.
Source: IANS
Source: IANS