Korean company Samsung Electronics will invest ₹4,915 crore in its Noida plant over the next three years . The investment will go into doubling production capacity of refrigerators and smartphones. The plant currently manufactures refrigerators, mobilephones and flat-panel televisions.

The expansion will be on an additional 35 acres of land adjacent to the current facility. The investment proposal was recently approved by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Addressing mediapersons at the ground-breaking ceremony of the new site, HC Hong, President and Chief Executive Officer, Samsung South-West Asia, said the company is witnessing a rise in adoption of electronic devices, smart appliances and mobilephones. “A bigger manufacturing plant will help us cater to the growing demand for Samsung products across the country,” he added.

Deepak Bharadwaj, Vice-President, Samsung, said the company is also looking to increase export of other consumer durables from India after the expansion is in place.

Investments in the electronics sector in India increased from ₹11,000 crore three years ago, to ₹1.53 lakh crore now.

In case of mobilephone manufacturing, volume in India increased from six crore in 2014-15 to 17.5 crore in 2016-17.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said with the expansion, Samsung has the potential to produce 100 million phones by 2020 and can account for about 50 per cent of global production of Samsung mobiles.

Currently, Samsung India operations account for about 10 per cent of the firm’s global production.

(The writer was in Noida at the invitation of Samsung Electronics)

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