Micromax to spend Rs2,000 cr in five years on new lines

Micromax, India's second-largest handset maker, is likely to invest around Rs2,000 crore in the next five years in the manufacture of new product lines, its co-founder Rajesh Agarwal said today.

He said the company is expected to clock Rs15,000 crore revenues during the current financial year. It recorded Rs12,000 crore revenues last year.

"We are planning to manufacture accessories such as batteries and chargers here in the country. The backward integration will happen in a period of next five to six years.
 
''I think over next five to six years we will be investing Rs2,000 crore on complete manufacturing activities," Agarwal told reporters in Hyderabad.

The new manufacturing facility of Micromax was today inaugurated in Hyderabad by Telangana Information Technology Minister K T Rama Rao in presence of state transport minister P Mahendra Reddy.

Spread across 19 acres, the facility will make mobile handsets, LED TVs, and LED lights among others.

The mobile maker has a plant in Rajasthan also.
 
He said the current size of mobile phone market in the country is 220 million units per annum and the brand enjoys a market share of 14 per cent.

"We are talking a growth of about 25 per cent this year. Our target this year would Rs15,000 crore. Today, we are selling around 2.5 million units per month. That's our run rate. We launched LED television sets around one and half years ago. We are one of the fastest growing LED TV companies in the country," he claimed.

Agarwal said they are open to joining other companies to bring in electronic component manufacturing to the country.

"We will request the Telangana government to allot some land for setting up research and development facility here," he added.

The company has already invested over Rs100 crore in its Hyderabad project in the first phase, he said.

On exports, the co-founder said Micromax is currently exporting to around five countries and has plans to expand footprints to African and European countries in future.

The Telangana facility currently employs 700 people and will increase the number to 1,000 in the next two months, boosting employment opportunities in the state.

"Telangana government strongly believes in the vision of 'Make in India' and has always encouraged corporates to establish their factories and R&D centres in the state," Rao said.

Agarwal said the company aims to be India's largest indigenous phone manufacturer by 2017.

By the end of the year, it plans to have two more plants in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh that will give the company a total capacity of five million units.

These facilities will manufacture both phones and televisions. The projects will entail investment of Rs300 crore and create job opportunities for over 10,000 people by 2017.