Celkon Mobiles will invest about ₹200 crore in its new assembly unit at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The production capacity is 2 lakh phones per month, which is scalable to 5 lakh on demand.

Internal accruals

The unit will help Celkon in cost reduction and quality control, apart from creating jobs. The funds have been raised from internal accruals, according to Y Guru, Chairman and Managing Director.

The unit was inaugurated by KT Rama Rao, Telangana Minister for Information Technology and Panchayati Raj. Speaking at the function, he said that units like this will bring more jobs to matriculates and diploma graduates from the region.

Emphasising that IT did not only mean the software at Gachibowli but also hardware at places like these, the minister reinforced the Telangana Government’s support to ‘Make in India’, ‘Make in Telangana’ initiatives. The new Industrial Policy unveiled on June 12 will fast track clearances and give impetus to manufacturing.

Rama Rao placed the first Printed Circuit Board on the assembly line to mark the start of the manufacturing activity. This assembly line is one of two currently operational lines. Two more are being used to train employees and eight more are ready for operation.

Each assembly line can employ one hundred workers, said Murali Retineni, Executive Director of Celkon Mobiles.

Advantage for India

IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan said that due to – India being the third largest market for mobile phones, rising wages in countries like China, and barriers against import – more such units can be expected in the near future.

Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax will also set up its manufacturing plant in the Electronic Manufacturing Cluster, Hyderabad soon.

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