By IANS,
Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi inaugurated the Rs.1.72 billion ($43 million) mobile phone plant of the US-based Motorola at Sriperumbudur near Chennai Sunday.
Congratulating the $36 billion Motorola for selecting Tamil Nadu for its unit, he said: “With this plant, Chennai has become a global hub for electronics and telecom manufacturing.”
Global mobile phone leader Nokia of Finland also has a plant at Sriperumbudur.
Motorola will make 12 million mobile phones and networking equipment such as base stations (6,500 units a year) and systems controllers at its 270,000 square feet facility.
A pioneer in Six Sigma quality initiatives, Motorola is trying to gain a considerable market share in India which is dominated by Nokia, LG and Samsung.
In 2007 the company posted a loss of $49 million.
The parent company has decided to split the firm into two companies – one to run the mobile phone business and the other to operate in the field of networking equipment and solutions.