Xiaomi said it wants its global smartphone component makers to set up base in India, in what is likely to bring as much as $2.5 billion of investment to the South Asian nation while also creating up to 50,000 jobs.
Xiaomi’s push could boost Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s flagship ‘Make in India’ drive that is aimed at adding tens of millions of new jobs and turning Asia’s No.3 economy into a global manufacturing hub, reported ET Tech.
Xiaomi, which is reportedly headed for a big initial public offering later this year, currently has six smartphone manufacturing plants in India. It hosted more than 50 of its global suppliers in New Delhi at an investment summit on Monday that was also attended by key government officials.
The Chinese firm has unseated Korean rival Samsung Electronics to take the pole position in India’s smartphone market – the world’s second biggest.
Xiaomi, which began assembling smartphones through Foxconn in southern India in 2015, will now assemble parts like memory and processors on printed circuit boards locally, said Manu Jain, managing director of Xiaomi’s India operations.
This announcement comes a week after New Delhi levied a 10% import duty on some key smartphone components, including populated PCBs. India is Xiaomi’s second-largest market after China. Xiaomi’s SMT plant will be run by Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, and a key Apple supplier.
However, Xiaomi’s push to get suppliers to India could spark job loss concerns in neighbouring China that is currently among the top electronics manufacturers in the world, reported ET tech.
