Optiemus Infracom, the founder of the domestic mobile brand Zen Mobile, has signed a joint venture with Wistron Corporation, a Taiwan based original design manufacturer (ODM), to set up a mobile manufacturing unit in Noida, reports the Indian Express. Optiemus Infracom will own a majority stake in the project, as well as invest around $200 million in the next 5 years. The first factory, expected to be 100,000 square feet large, will be commissioned by March next year. The unit will feature 16 manufacturing lines, be able to manufacture over 18 million devices per year and employ 2,500 people. According to the company, in the next two years, it will expand the facility to an industrial park, capable of manufacturing 100 million SMT (surface mounted technology) and mobile devices per year. Other than manufacturing Zen Mobile phones, the facility will an end-to-end manufacturing solution for other mobile brands as well. Manufacturing in India: The Indian government has been encouraging domestic companies to start manufacturing electronics goods within the country instead of importing them and had approved a National Policy on Electronics. Since then, various smartphone manufacturers have said they will start manufacturing in India or have already started doing so. - Various manufacturers have tied up with Foxconn to manufacture phones in India. Earlier this month, Oppo started contract manufacturing in India in partnership with Foxconn while in September, Gionee tied up with Foxconn and Dixon to manufacture its phones in India. In June, the company started making Xiaomi phones…
