Motorola Mobility will be suspending operations at its phone assembling plant in Chennai from February, 2013, reports Business Standard. The decision comes right after the company, which has been acquired by Google, decided to reduce global production cost. According to a report by Zdnet, the company will layoff all of its 76 staff members from the plant. The company claims that it is currently working with the workers impacted to settle all the dues and is providing relief packages. The Chennai facility was started in 2008 with an investment of Rs 172 crore. It should be noted that Motorola's Bangalore based research and development centers for mobile devices and home business, home business go-to-market, corporate IT and other corporate functions in India will continue to operate. India Developments In August, Motorola had announced that it would be shutting down its operations in India as a part of its strategy to lay off 20% of its work force, and close a third of its 94 offices worldwide. According to another report, Motorola has also shut down its R&D center in Hyderabad. Recently, Motorola had shut down its India website in a move to shutter its mobile phone business in India. Related Global Developments On 15th August 2011, Google agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion for its 17,000 patent portfolio, with the stated intent of this helping Google in defending its mobile operating system Android. The European antitrust regulators and the the U.S. Department of Justice approved the deal in February 2012, after which Google completed the acquisition in May 2012 for $12.4 billion. Motorola CEO,…
