Xiaomi sets up three smartphones manufacturing units in India

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi on Monday said it has set up three new smartphone manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, along with a facility for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing in India.

While Xiaomi didn't disclose investment details, the move could potentially bring in as much as $2.5 billion of investment to India. Xiaomi said the move will double its manufacturing capacity in India. 

"We had two facilities for smartphone manufacturing earlier. Now we have added three more in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh and Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. These are in partnership with Foxconn," said Manu Jain, Vice-President and India Managing Director, Xiaomi.

Besides, a small number of phones are also being made in Noida with another partner—Hipad, he added.

Jain said, with this, Xiaomi can now manufacture two phones per second during operational hours.

These facilities employ over 10,000 people and 95 per cent are women, Jain added.

Xiaomi is also setting up a new PCB assembly unit in Sriperumbudur in partnership with Foxconn. "We are committed to manufacturing in India. PCB is 50 per cent of the value of a phone... By Q3, all Xiaomi phones made in India will have PCBs that are locally assembled," he said.

Xiaomi, which is among the top three smartphone players in the country, is also hosting over 50 of its global suppliers in India.

These companies will be visiting Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to explore investment opportunities to set up local manufacturing base.

"If these companies choose to invest here, there is an investment opportunity of over Rs 15,000 crore and can generate employment for over 50,000 people," Jain said.