Traze to open RFID manufacturing facility

BANGALORE: Gemini Traze RFID Pvt. Ltd., will be setting up India' s first RFID tag manufacturing facility at the Seriperumbudur electronic park in Chennai, with an investment of  $2.5 million.

The plant is expected to be operational in October 2006, according to Pradhyumna T Venkat, business head, Gemini Traze RFID.   

Gemini Traze, claiming the faclity be a first among the SAARC nations, plans to roll out 45 million UHF (Ultra High Frequency) tags annually, which can be scaled up to a 100 million, said  Venkat, speaking to CIOL, on the sidelines of an RFID conference in Bangalore. He is positive that this would slash the cost of RFID tags by a whopping 60 percent!

The cost of RFID tags has for long been construed by industry experts as being a huge obstacle to large-scale implementation of RFID technology. 

Venkat said,  “Currently, there are a lot of overheads with duty and import, which is 40 percent additional cost on duties levied." Indigenous manufacturing would rid it of the additional cost. 

The Rs 10 crore company, expects to rake in a majority (close to 78%) of its revenue from its tag business, which has the potential to earn close to Rs 50 crore, reveals Venkat.  

The company has started talks with potential customers and is confident that this move would fuel RFID implementations in the country. But, however, Venkat agrees that initially a majority of its business will be derived outside India and is in talks with suppliers to retail major WalMart.

The 100 percent subsidiary of Gemini Communications Limited, Gemini Traze RFID was launched 5 years ago and has deployed about 85 RFID implementations in India. The projects involved diverse applications from employee tracking, access control, library management to vehicle tracking and tracking of electronic media such as CD ROMs and DVDs. 

CIOL Bureau