Gaining access

Calcutta, May 4: Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation will make mobile phones in Bengal through a tieup with local entity GeePee Mobiles. This will be Mitsubishi’s first such project in the country.

Senior officials of Mitsubishi Corporation India had a meeting with GeePee representatives on April 30 in Tokyo to discuss the nature of the alliance.

According to Bijay Agarwal, managing director of GeePee Infotech Pvt Ltd, “We were approached by Mitsubishi officials in November and have been in touch with them since then. We plan to jointly set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit in the state. Mitsubishi will get back to us within the next 15 days with the board’s approval on the exact nature of the project and the terms and conditions.”

Agarwal said the agreement could either involve component supply, testing and research and development work with Mitsubishi or a joint venture company.

Mitsubishi had earlier decided to exit the business globally after making heavy losses.

Mitsubishi Corporation has a strong presence in Bengal, where it has a Rs 3,000-crore chemical plant in Haldia.

The company has also announced expansion plans in Haldia.

The mobile plant will require investment of Rs 100 crore and employ around 1,500 workers.

Unlike Japanese and European markets where growth in mobile subscribers has stagnated, India hopes to add another 250 million subscribers by 2010.

Mobile phone production in India is expected to grow to 107 million units in 2011 from 31 million units in 2006 at a compounded annual growth rate of 28.3 per cent.

Revenues from mobile phone manufacturing, which was at $4.9 billion in 2006, is likely to touch $13.6 billion by 2011, according to a report by global research agency, Gartner.

At present, production in India is dominated by the top five global handset vendors —Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG.

The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the apex body of handset manufacturers in the country, has projected India as the next global export hub for mobile devices, accounting for 10 per cent of the world’s handsets by 2010.

Spice move

Spice Mobile, the handset unit of BK Modi-controlled Spice Group, has earmarked Rs 100 crore for brand building this year to reach out to customers in metros and bigger towns of the country.

The company is also planning to launch a sub-20- dollar GSM handset to target the entry level users of mobile phones.