HMD Global will manufacture Nokia phones in India by 2022
NEW DELHI: HMD Global, the exclusive licensee of the Nokia brand for phones and tablets, which imports mobile phone components and assembles them in India, will progressively switch to manufacturing all components in India by 2022, a top executive said.
“Until this year, we imported all our components and assembled them here. Now we will be manufacturing some of the components in India as well... next year more, and the year after that even more. It’s going to be a phased manner in which we start switching to component manufacturing also,” Ajey Mehta, vice-president India, HMD Global, said.
With an aim to boost local manufacturing, the Union government on April 2 imposed a 10% basic customs duty on import of smartphone components such as camera modules and printed circuit board (PCB) assembly. Prior to this, there was no import duty on these components. Moreover, in the budget for 2018-19, the Centre had increased customs duty on mobile phones to 20% from 15%. The measures are in line with the government’s Phased Manufacturing Programme, which aims to boost local manufacturing of phones. In its first phase, in 2017-18, the government had tar- geted production of various components for three years— mechanics, die-cut parts, microphones and receivers, keypads and USB cables; printed circuit boards, camera modules and connectors in 2018-19; and display assemblies, touch panels, vibrator motors and ringers in 2019-20.
“For example, PCBS will attract a duty from this year, so we are ramping up our manufacturing to make sure we manufacture the PCBS in the country. We are doing it (manufacturing) with Foxconn. Similarly, the other parts of the phone over a period of time,” Mehta said, adding that he expects that by 2022, “a few things will continue to be imported, but almost the entire component ecosystem will start to set up in India”.
For this, the company is also in talks with the government for the latter’s support for the mobile components ecosystem. MUMBAI/BENGALURU: A US bankruptcy court on March 29 allowed Nirav Modi’s Firestar Diamond and other related companies to sell their assets.
The court has invited bids for assets of the distressed companies till April 27 and auction of the assets will begin on May 5.
This may come as a setback to Punjab National Bank (PNB), which in a hearing on March 28 had opposed the sale on the ground that a truncated sale will limit the recovery of creditors.
An email sent to a spokesperson for PNB was not answered till press time.
PNB, which is facing a liability of ₹12,636 crore because of the alleged fraud by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi firms, had told the court that Modi’s firms have not provided information that any of the assets to be sold were obtained with funds fraudulently obtained from PNB or whether the debtors were otherwise used to launder funds.
“The court having conducted a hearing on March 28, 2018, at which time the Court considered, among other things, the bidding procedures, any objections thereto and the oral arguments of counsel; and it further appearing that the relief requested is reasonable and necessary to protect the interests of the debtors, their estates, and creditors,” the US court had said in the order dated March 29.
The court also ruled that the distressed companies have demonstrated sufficient business reasons for the court to approve the bidding and auction of its assets.
The court will conduct the sale hearing on May 15.
While the court did not rule in favour of PNB’S objections, the public sector bank can again submit its objections before the sale hearing till May 8.