Micromax to set up a manufacturing unit in Telangana

Hyderabad: In a development that could provide a fillip to the manufacturing sector in the state, the Telangana government has succeeded in attracting Indian mobile handset maker Micromax to set up its mobile manufacturing facility in the state - the first such plant in Telangana.

“Micromax has decided to set up its manufacturing plant near Hyderabad. The company would be issuing a letter of intent on Friday, when the Chief Minister launches the state’s industrial policy. They would sign an MoU in the next ten days,” said Telangana IT minister K T Rama Rao after inaugurating Amazon’s largest fulfilment centre in Mahbubnagar.

The Micromax mobile handset factory comes as a shot in the arm for the Telangana government as it seeks to encourage the labour-intensive manufacturing sector in the state for providing employment to locals.

Explaining the government’s plan further, Mr Rama Rao said that the government has been talking to several mobile handsets makers. “Indian Cellular Association has responded positively to our proposal. They have asked us to allocate land for setting up plants of mobile handset or component makers at one location. But some handset makers have evinced interest in some other places. Though we would like the mobile handset ecosystem to develop at one location, we leave it to the judgment of individual companies.”

Rama Rao also said that a team from Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Indus-try Co. Ltd), the maker of iPhones, will be visiting Hyderabad on Thursday as part of their plans to set up a plant in India. “A Foxconn team, which has been visiting several cities to zero in on an ideal location for their manufacturing plant, would be visiting some locations near Hyderabad.”

Foxconn manufactures products for 17 companies, which includes Acer, Apple, Blackberry, Cisco, Dell, HP, Huawei, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Xiaomi, etc.