Samsung to invest additional Rs 1970 crore in Noida plant; here's what it plans to do

The Note 7 fiasco hasn’t really bogged down Samsung. Amidst striving to bring the Note 7 features to S7 series and trying to turn around the situation by appeasing miffed Indian customers , a new investment news has surfaced for the India market. The company is all set to invest Rs 1,970 crore, and that’s a lot of money, with the aim to double the capacity at the Noida plant in Uttar Pradesh by the end of 2019. The announcement comes in line with companies pushing to be inline with PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. C Hong, President and CEO of Samsung India reportedly emphasised on the same and spoke about how the investment will help make the manufacturing facility in India better and robust. The UP government approved the investment under the Super Mega A by the state’s Cabinet Committee and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said how it is a push to convert Noida into an electronics hub. More than making mobile phones The Noida plant was started back in 1996, and is said to have about 4,000 people, out of the 40,000 employees that Samsung has in India, according to the report. The plant is already known for manufacturing washing machines and mobile phones, and this capacity will be reportedly doubled with this investment. According to the ET report, the phone manufacturing will increase from from 6 million to 12 million units per month, in the three-year time frame. Citing an official, he report adds ‘’exports in a phased manner" are a part of the plan. All in all, if this is to be believed then Samsung India is trying to focus on one of its biggest markets, and not only in terms of mobile phones, but also other products. As the report mentioned washing machines and mobile phones, we’re guessing the expansion is part of a bigger plan that will go beyond these devices. “With the large capacity, we will be able to do exports, but in a phased manner,” citing a senior executive, the report adds. But there is no mention of the time frame of the exports. This clearly means one cannot rule out the possibility of the investment being used to ramp up products other than phones and washing machines, like refrigerators, displays and batteries. “A bigger and more robust manufacturing facility will help us address the needs and demands of our growing customer base across the country and the region. We plan to further the Samsung innovation promise across our Refrigerator, Mobile and LED TV range, offering the latest and best of the world to our customers,” said Hong. This would also mean, Samsung’s plan of  staying ahead of the game in giving India a head start at becoming an export hub, after China. However, a Samsung official declined that the company has released any official statement on these lines. Irrespective of the recent blunder, Samsung remains a high-regarded brand in India, and the company definitely doesn’t want to lose the steam in one of its most loved markets, especially considering the fierce competition. It was just recently that Samsung’s rival in the phone space,  Huawei , was also said to be evaluating ways to start production of mobile phones in India through contract manufacturing in association with Foxconn. Huawei is currently studying the business models and tax incentives. Meanwhile, we’ve reached out to Samsung for a response and will update the story accordingly.