New Delhi: Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei has tipped the equipment security debate strongly in its favour by deciding to set up a manufacturing base in Chennai with an investment of $500 million.This will be the first large investment in telecom manufacturing since former minister Dayanidhi Maran left office in May 2007.
Confirming the development,A Sethuraman,executive director,Huawei India,told TOI that this multi-product facility,which will be constructed across 30,000 sq ft near Sriperumbudur,will become operational before the end of December.He said the investment will be staggered over the next five years.
Tamil Nadu is often called Indias Shenzen after Maran attracted a slew of telecom manufacturing investments to the state from 2005 onwards,including Nokia,Ericsson,LG,Sony Ericsson,Motorola,Alcatel Lucent,Nortel and others.Huawei already has an R&D centre in India which is its biggest outside China,employing 2,000 people,while its India operations have been drawing overall investments of $150 million/year over the past decade.According to the company,it has a total employee base of 6,000 people of which 95% are Indians,while it creates indirect employment for 20,000 people through its partner ecosystem.
Huawei sells equipment in over 100 countries and claims to serve 46 of the worlds top 50 telecom operators.Its global turnover in 2009 was $30 billion of which India sales accounted for roughly 7%.Huaweis turnover for 2010 is projected to hit $36 billion,though India failed to generate any significant contracts until just a month ago owing to the home ministrys fears that Chinese equipment makers were placing malware and spyware in their equipment.
While all foreign telecom equipment orders were practically suspended over these concerns,Chinese companies faced the real threat of an outright ban,despite the fact that most of Indias telecom operators already use Chinese equipment.On August 3,TOI had reported that Huawei had turned this threat into an opportunity by becoming the first company to concede to the home ministrys demand to share its source codes.
India Calling
Huaweis investment will be the first large investment in telecom manufacturing since Dayanidhi Marans term ended in May 2007 tThe plant will be spread over 30,000 sq ft near Sriperumbudur tHuawei already has an R&D centre in India its biggest outside China,employing 2,000 people tThe companys India ops draw investments of $150m/year
Other Telecom Investments In TN
Nokia, Ericsson, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Alcatel Lucent, Nortel.
Bharti enters handset biz
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Sunday entered the fast-growing mobile handset business as its group company Beetel launched eight handsets in the price range of Rs 1,750-Rs 7,000.Beetel Teletech executive director and CEO Vinod Sawhny said,The market is huge and there is a room for Indian players. AGENCIES
