LG to set up handset plant in India

NEW DELHI: LG Electronics is planning to manufacture mobile phones, both CDMA as well as GSM, in India in its Pune factory. The mobile manufacturing plant will be operational in 2005.

On the mobile handset front, the company is planning to invest $60 million (Rs 300 crore) by 2010. The company is planning to invest around $30 million within the year 2005, whereas the rest of the amount will be dispersed between 2006 to 2010.

By 2010, the company is planning to manufacture 20 million handsets in the country, of which 50 percent will cater to the export market.

According to Voice & Data, LG is the number one handset vendor in India with sales of Rs 2,797 crore capturing 33.5 percent Indian mobile handset market share.