Huawei to invest Rs9,000 crore in R&D and manufacturing facility in India

Chinese telecom vendor Huawei today announced plans to invest $2 billion (about Rs9,000 crore) over the next five years for scaling up its R&D centre and scaling up manufacturing in India.

Shanghai-based Huawei will invest $2 billion in a new research facility in Bangalore and its manufacturing unit in Chennai. The announcement comes on the eve of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's three-day visit to India beginning tomorrow.

The investment will also focus on augmenting Huawei's local sourcing, increasing headcount, while scaling up R&D potential and manufacturing strength, the Chinese company said in a statement.

"Huawei has been in India for over a decade and is committed to a long-term development and cooperation in India," Max Yang, CEO, Huawei India, said.

"As an integral part of Indian telecom industry development and an active player serving all telecom service providers, Huawei India strives to be the long term partner for the development of India's telecom and IT industry and inclusive growth," he added.

The Indian government, which raised certain security concerns about foreign telecom equipment suppliers, including Chinese companies, finally allowed Huawei to bid for supply of equipment to Indian telecom service providers after it agreed to meet the guidelines.

Huawei, currently has operations in 19 major regions and employs over 6,000 technical and professionals across the country.

Huawei recently started its first phase of local manufacturing in Chennai and is exploring cooperation in local manufacturing.