From C K Nayak
NEW DELHI: Chinese mobile company Gionee wants to ‘Make in India’ and is planning to start manufacturing unit in the North East too, the allurement being the region’s likeness for football.
Gionee will invest Rs 300 crore in building a manufacturing facility in India in the next three years as a part of the firm’s plan to ‘Make in India’. The company is scouring sites for its factory and other outlets all over the country including the North East, company sources said.
The firm has just replaced mobile major Nokia as principal sponsor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The three-year sponsorship involves an investment of about Rs 54 crore. It is also the sponsor of Shillong Lajong FC and is looking to penetrate into the Eastern and North-Eastern markets.
The firm, which sold 40 lakh mobile phones in the country in 2014-15, might go for contract manufacturing in order to kick-start the mobile production in the country.
A good number of the 10-12 new models it is planning to launch this year would be manufactured in India. The firm appointed E&Y to advise it on setting up manufacturing facility, which might produce phones for the countries nearby.
As it targets a turnover of 6,000 crore and double sales to 80 lakh phones in 2015-16, the firm has almost doubled its marketing investments to 225 crore for the year and lined up big ticket cricketing and football sponsorships.
A study has found that the recent spectrum auction has yielded unprecedented revenue gain for the Indian Government. This will also encourage the mobile makers to invest more and more in India.