Nokia to invest $75-m more in Chennai

CHENNAI: Nokia announced fresh investments to the tune of $75 million towards its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, for the year 2008.

This investment is geared towards enhancing the capacity of the manufacturing plant to cater to the burgeoning need of the Indian and other emerging markets. The manufacturing plant currently employs approximately 6,000 people.

Nokia initially committed to invest $150 million in early 2006 over a four-year period. However, given the buoyant demand for mobility in India, Nokia has so far cumulatively already invested $210 million in its Chennai operations. This current investment is an addition to this figure.

Nokia started manufacturing from Sriperumbudur in January 2006 and has achieved the distinction of the fastest ramp up by any Nokia factory worldwide. The plant plays an integral role in Nokia’s global production network for mobile devices and is the tenth manufacturing facility of the company.

“The decision to make additional investment in the plant is a reflection of Nokia's commitment to the Indian mobile communications industry and of the increasing demand for mobile devices from Asia, Middle East and Africa,” said Raimo Puntala, senior vice president, Operations and Logistics, Nokia.

Currently, approximately 50 percent of the production from the plant is consumed domestically and the rest is exported to countries across Middle East and Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

In October 2007, Nokia announced plans to establish a Healthcare Centre at the Nokia Telecom Park at Sriperumbudur. The 3,000sqm Healthcare Centre will cater to needs of Nokia employees, employees of the SEZ partners and the local community.

The Nokia Healthcare Centre is being set up in association with a professional healthcare group and will be fully operational by mid-2008.