New Delhi, Nov. 14: HCL Technologies Limited has formed a joint venture with Canada-based electronics manufacturing company, Celestica Incorporation, to design, manufacture and sell electronic components.

“The deal is expected to rake in revenue of Rs 460 crore for HCL over the next five years,” HCL Technologies president Vineet Nayar said.

According to the deal, HCL will set up a design services centre in Chennai to design electronic hardware and provide after-sales services to Celestica’s customers, while Celestica manufactures and markets the products, Nayar said.

“The design centre is expected to employ more than 200 engineers in six months,” he added.

Being the first joint venture of its kind in the electronics industry, the deal is aimed at providing a fully integrated product lifecycle solutions, including product concept, design, engineering, manufacturing, fulfilment, sustaining engineering, reverse logistics and after-market services.

HCL has, over the past year, bagged several such multi-service deals that required the company to manage information technology infrastructure as well as write specific software for the client company.

The two firms would initially address the medical electronics, consumer electronics and aeronautical sectors.

They also plan to set up a joint marketing team to oversee the arrangement that will help Toronto-based Celestica save on costs and offer more value to its customers.

“With this joint venture, HCL is confident of benefiting from the additional revenue stream and access to a new set of clients, like IBM and Cisco Systems who are currently clients of Celestica,” said Nayar.

With the signing of this joint venture, Celestica joins the rapidly growing legion of foreign firms who outsource design work, supply chain management and payroll processing to Indian companies, attracted by skilled manpower and significantly lower wage costs.

Celestica is a leading company in the electronics manufacturing services segment, with IBM and Cisco Systems as its clients. The firm has more than 40 plants and design centres in 19 countries. It employs nearly 49,000 people worldwide and supplies hardware for products such as Motorola radios.