CHENNAI: One more Finnish firm, Salcomp, is planning to set up shop at the 210-acre Nokia Telecom Software Export Zone (SEZ), which is coming up at the SIPCOT Industrial Park in Sriperumbudur, near here.

Two Finnish component suppliers — Aspocomp and Perlos Corporation — have already announced their intention to set up production units in the SEZ. The two have committed a total investment of $82 million. Aspocomp will make PCBs (printed circuit boards). Perlos is a well-known supplier of mechanics for the telecom industry.

Founded in 1975, Salcomp is one of the world's leading makers of linear and switch-mode chargers and power suppliers for mobile terminals and other electronic hand-held devices. A global company, Salcomp has its main offices in Finland. It has regional offices in the U.S., Brazil and Finland. Also, it has production bases in Brazil and China.

In an interaction with The Hindu, Jukka Lehtela, Head of Nokia's manufacturing facility in India, said Salcomp was among the four companies that had so far committed investment in the SEZ. Besides the three Finnish firms, Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. would be setting up a unit at the SEZ, he said. He expected at least eight international suppliers to set up production units here.

Mr. Lehtela said the Sriperumbudur facility had already been running three-shifts and providing jobs to 2,500 people. "We are still in the ramp-up phase,'' he said. He hoped that all processes would be in position by the end of the year. The company managed to reach a head count of 2,500 inside seven months of its operation though it had earlier indicated an elongated timeframe to reach this number. Nokia had committed an investment of $150 million over a three-year period in India. According to Mr. Lehtela, the company had already invested close to that figure.

Mr. Lehtela said the Nokia unit in India had already churned out `millions' of mobile phones. The unit, he said, was producing a little less than ten models for the domestic market. Eighty per cent of the sales comprised low and high-end ranges in the price tag of below $150 a piece.

The company had also begun exports. Exports were less than 30 per cent of production at the moment. Currently, Nokia phones were shipped to certain South-East Asia markets. Nokia was also keen to enter markets in West Asia and parts of Africa, he added. "I am not going to limit exports. It all depends on demand. We don't define it. Markets define it,'' said Mr. Lehtela. Where does India stand in the over all plan of Nokia? Volume-wise, India was the fifth in the rank, he said. He expected India to move up to the second rank in volume-wise for Nokia by 2010.

He was unfazed by the announcements of many a global phone-maker to set up production units in India.

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