Intex Tech plans to invest Rs. 500 cr in smartphone unit.

Mobile handsets and consumer durables manufacturer Intex Technologies plans to invest Rs. 500 crore in setting up a smartphone manufacturing plant in the country. The company is in talks with three State Governments - Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand - to finalise the location for the plant.

The proposed plant will be used for manufacturing mobile phones initially and later other electronic goods.

'We are in talks with these State Governments and had a meeting last week for setting up a manufacturing plant. We already have three manufacturing plants in Jammu and Himachal Pradesh for feature phone and other computer peripherals. The idea is to manufacture smartphones in the new plant,' Keshav Bansal, Director, Marketing, Intex Technologies, told BusinessLine.

Speaking on the sidelines of a new smartphone launch, he said the final decision on the location of the new facility will depend on the incentives given by the respective State Governments.

'The Government has been talking a lot on electronics manufacturing in India, but it has not started implementing the policies yet on a larger scale. Once the Government start implementing the policies, we would also look at manufacturing light-emitting diode (LED) televisions as part of our expansion plans,' he said.

The company is already manufacturing products such as mobile batteries, chargers, phone panel covers and speakers in the existing plants.

'We have our research and development centres in Delhi and Jammu in India, and one in China, which has started work on designing for future products. Therefore, we are just waiting for a proper ecosystem to emerge here,' he added.

HBL