Categories: Uncategorized

Lava to invest Rs 2,615 crore to set up two manufacturing units


Domestic handset maker Lava will invest Rs 2,615 crore over the next seven years to set up two manufacturing units in the country, in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Once operational, the units will have a combined capacity of 18 million handsets per month.

“We have put in place a plan to invest Rs 2,615 crore to set up two more manufacturing units in India — one in the north and the other in South India,” Lava International Chairman and MD Hari Om Rai told PTI.

He added that the expansion will be funded through internal accruals.

“Some portion of the earmarked amount will also go into research and development,” he said.

On the expansion plans, Lava International Chief Manufacturing Officer Sanjeev Agarwal said: “The funds will be deployed over a period of seven years. We are in discussions with various state governments and we should be able to close in on a decision in the next three weeks.”

He added that the company’s second unit will become operational by the beginning of 2017.

“We already have a unit in Noida and by beginning of 2017, the second one will be operational too. We will take a call on the third one later. Once all the three plants are functional, we expect our total output to be 18 million units a month,” Agarwal said.

Lava’s Noida unit has a monthly capacity of making about half a million handsets.

Global handset makers like Samsung and domestic players like Micromax and Spice also have assembly units in India.

Given the government’s push for ‘Make in India’, device makers including HTC and VivoBSE 4.78 % have evinced interest in starting manufacturing in the country.

India is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally and device makers to keen on setting up manufacturing units here to cater to the burgeoning demand.

The company also plans to double its headcount this year.

“We currently have about 7,000 people and we are on track to double this number by March next year. These people will be hired across various roles in manufacturing, R&D, sales and marketing,” Rai said.

Lava today launched its new handset under Google’s Android One program.

Priced at Rs 11,350, the device features 5.5-inch display, Android Lollipop operating system, 1.3 Ghz quad core processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, 13MP rear and 8MP front camera and 2,560 mAh battery.





“Pixel V1 was developed by close coordination between product R&D teams at Lava and Google. We believe the device is the right mix of hardware and software and we are confident of it doing well in the market,” Rai said.

It will be available online through Flipkart.com from today as well as over 2,000 stores and over 65,000 multi-brand outlets.

According to research firm IDC, Korean electronics giant Samsung led the smartphone market in India with 22 per cent share, followed by homegrown vendors Micromax (18 per cent), Intex (8 per cent) and Lava (7 per cent) and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi with 4 per cent share.

Share
Published by
Tech Updates

Recent Posts

Moto G56 5G, Moto G86 5G, Moto G86 Power 5G Launched

Motorola has launched the Moto G56 5G, Moto G86 5G, and Moto G86 Power 5G…

2 days ago

Vivo S30, Vivo S30 Pro launched

Vivo has launched the Vivo S30 and Vivo S30 Pro mini smartphones in China. Vivo…

3 days ago

Realme Neo7 Turbo with Dimensity 9400e, 7200mAh Battery launched

Realme has launched the Realme Neo7 Turbo smartphone in China. Realme Neo7 Turbo has a…

3 days ago

Tecno POVA Curve 5G with Dimensity 7300 Ultimate Launched in India for Rs 15,999

TECNO just launched Tecno POVA Curve 5G smartphone in India. Tecno POVA Curve 5G has…

3 days ago

One UI 8 beta update for Samsung Galaxy S25 series

Samsung has started rolling out One UI 8 beta update based on Android 16 for…

4 days ago

Motorola Razr 60 Launched in India for Rs 49,999

Motorola has launched Motorola Razr 60 flip phone in India. It has a 6.96-inch FHD+…

4 days ago