The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Sriperumbudur set to be telecom hub: Maran

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sriperumbudur set to be telecom hub: Maran

Staff Reporter

Union Minister inspects Nokia plant, which is likely to commence production in 2006

TALKING POINT: Union Minister for Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran with the Nokia representatives during a visit to the company's upcoming plant at Sriperumbudur on Tuesday. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI: The 210-acre industrial corridor in Sriperumbudur, situated 20 kilometres to the west of Chennai, is all set to become a telecom manufacturing hub with Nokia's assembling plant scheduled to commence production in the first half of next year, according to Union Minister for Information and Technology Dayanidhi Maran.

Mr. Maran spoke to reporters after meeting top representatives of the company at the factory site on Tuesday. "Sriperumbudur is already known for world-class manufacturing units in the automobile and glass industries. With Nokia entering the fray, I am sure it will become an international hub for telecom manufacturing units. I hope Motorola and Ericsson will follow suit."

To a query on the State Government's role, Mr. Maran said a Government Order giving "special economic zone" status to the project was expected later this week. "Both the Centre and the State Governments are doing their best as far as this project goes."

2,000 jobs

The Nokia facility will be spread across a floor space of 29,000 sq. ft. and employ more than 2,000 persons once production commences.

Australian construction firm Leighton has employed more than 1,000 persons to finish the construction by April.

Jukka Lehtela, Nokia's director for Indian operations, said he was satisfied with the progress made since the foundation-laying ceremony in July.

"We will be able to start production in the first half of 2006 as planned," he added. Though the project is slated for completion later next year, Mr. Maran said he had urged Nokia and Leighton to complete it by March.

"At the rate at which it is progressing I am sure that should be possible," he said adding that the project would be inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his Finnish counterpart (Nokia is headquartered in Finland) and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Largest facility

Nokia has two manufacturing units in China and one in Korea catering to Asia-Pacific regions. The company's senior vice-president (operations and logistics), Raimo Puntala, said the facility at Sriperumbudur would be one of their largest in the world.

Mr. Maran said Nokia was to start a base in 1994 in Goa but was unable to do so.

"I am lucky that the project was postponed then. Otherwise they would not have been able to come to Chennai," he said in a lighter vein.

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