Samsung to invest Rs 5,000 crore to double production capacity in Noida plant

Samsung, the multinational electronic company from South Korea, is investing about Rs 5,000 crore so that it can more than double the mobile phone production capacity in its Noida, Uttar Pradesh plant by 2020.

This, including nearly Rs 2,000 crore that it had pledged last year, would be Samsung’s biggest investment in India so far, even as its market share faces severe threat from Chinese rivals.

Samsung, which holds the top position in smartphone market both in the world and in India is planning to make the South Asian nation its hub for manufacture and export, from where shipments would be sent to Europe, Middle East, Africa and elsewhere.

"They (the company) have taken another site close to the existing one (in Noida), doubling the area from 130,000 square metres," a senior government official told ET.

Samsung already locally manufactures its phones that are sold in India, leading to better pricing and control over the supply chain, crucial for a market as intensely competitive as India.

As per government officials aware of the developments, the Noida plant would see this investment being made in parts over the coming years.

Even though mobile phones would be the bigger focus, Samsung will also make efforts to double the production capacity of refrigerators.

The investment has been planned at a time when the handset industry is facing concerns over the continuation of tax sops for local production once the goods and services tax rolls out on July 1.