Calcutta, March 5: India is set to become Nokia’s second largest market by volume after China by 2010.

India is now the third largest market after China and the US.

The company, which has a manufacturing facility in Chennai, has shipped 20 million units in the past 11 months.

“We have already committed investments worth $150 million over the next few years and will scale up operations accordingly at our manufacturing facility as and when required,” said Sunil Dutt, director — sales, Nokia India.

The Chennai facility is the tenth manufacturing facility for Nokia globally.

Nokia has a strong distribution network in India with reach even in remote places.

“We are the market leaders and wherever there is an operator, we are sure to be present,” Dutt said.

Motorola’s $100-million manufacturing facility near Chennai is also set to start operations by the first or second quarter of 2007-08.

On bringing down the bar of the lowest price point of Rs 1,700 for a model, Dutt said Nokia already has the most varied price points and any cost benefit through the dealer network would instantly be passed on to the customer.

Telecom players like Vodafone intend to introduce mobile phones at $25 in the Indian market.

Nokia is also exploring the retail space through Nokia Concept stores. It has already opened six such stores across the country and more are on the anvil during the course of the year, Dutt said.

According to an independent survey conducted by Nokia through Saffron Hill, four out of every 10 organisations in India opt for business mobility through applications like mobile email, calendar and intranet.

Last year, Nokia launched its range of E-series phones.

The E-series range enables corporate houses to remotely manage their data on handheld devices.

The centres in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai have contributed significantly to the research on next generation packet switched mobile technologies and communications solutions to increase corporate productivity.

Nokia has also set up its global network solutions centre in Chennai, which will perform network operations for some operators in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in Europe, West Asia and Africa.