Samsung on Monday opened the largest mobile phone manufacturing factory in the world in Noida. The facility, said to be built at a cost of over ₹ 4,900 crore, will almost double the South Korean company's manufacturing capacity to produce 120 million phones per year by 2020 from the 68 million it produces now, a statement from Samsung said. Inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the manufacturing unit will produce all Samsung mobile phones, ranging from low-end smartphones to its flagship Galaxy S9. Samsung plans to make India an export hub, with 50% of its overall production coming from here in the next three years from the present 10%, the company said. The phase-wise expansion of the manufacturing unit will be completed by 2020. Samsung’s Noida plant was set up in 1996 where it has been manufacturing smartphones, refrigerators and flat-screen televisions. The South Korean electronics giant had last year announced plans to expand the existing plant by another 35 acres in a bid to double the production capacity of both mobile phones and refrigerators. The company has two manufacturing plants in India -- in Noida and in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu -- and five research and development centres in India. The company has one design centre in Noida with a workforce of over 70,000 people. To regain lost glory The move comes at a time when all major mobile companies are seeking to grab a pie of the intensely competitive smartphone market in India, which…
