CORPORATE news
Reliance entering electronics manufacturing sector through JV and acquisition
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is looking to further expand its empire to include electronics manufacturing as it mulls an investment of up to $221 million in forming a JV with electronics firm Sanmina. Manufacturing will initially take place at Sanmina’s 100-acre campus in Chennai, with the ability for site expansion to support future growth opportunities as well as to potentially expand to new manufacturing sites in India over time based on business needs.
The conglomerate is also to acquire the assets of cobalt-free lithium battery technology and manufacturing company Lithium Werks for $61 million. The acquisition will include Lithium Werks’ entire patent portfolio, manufacturing facility in China, key business contracts, and hiring of existing employees as a going concern.
Samsung to manufacture refrigerator components in Tamil Nadu
Samsung is planning to invest around ` 15.88 billion in making refrigerator compressor units in Tamil Nadu. An MoU to set up the manufacturing plant was recently inked between Samsung and Tamil Nadu government. Though Samsung has two plants that manufacture a wide range of electronics, this move is to set up a dedicated unit for manufacturing components for refrigerators. The state government also touched base with Samsung asking it to make use of the PLI scheme rolled out by the Centre to manufacture chips in the country.
Exide joins hands with China’s SVOLT for Li-ion battery manufacture in India
Striking a multi-year deal, Exide Industries has partnered with China’s SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturing in India. As part of the agreement, Exide will receive an irrevocable right and license to use, exploit, and commercialise necessary technology and know-how owned by SVOLT for lithium-ion cell manufacturing in India. SVOLT will also provide the support required for setting up of a green field manufacturing plant on a turnkey basis.
Ather Energy partners with Bharat FIH to manufacture parts for its E2Ws
Ather Energy has joined hands with Taiwanese Foxconn’s Indian subsidiary Bharat FIH to develop and manufacture key components for Ather’s scooters. Bharat FIH will offer a host of manufacturing services that include printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies for battery management systems, dashboard assembly, peripheral controlling units, and drive control modules. These products will be manufactured on a turnkey model, including managing the supplychain logistics and raw material procurement for Ather Energy.
Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo eyeing to locally manufacture phones for exports
Chinese smartphone giants Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are reportedly in the process of holding talks with Indian manufacturers to locally make smartphones for exports. The firms are looking to rope in manufacturers like Lava International and Dixon Technologies to assemble the phones and begin exporting from their plants as early as this year. Oppo and Vivo have begun discussions with Lava while Xiaomi is courting Dixon. Both groups are eyeing to utilise the IT hardware PLI scheme put in place by the Indian government last year.
VVDN and Blue Star to collaborate on AC components, Wi-Fi 6e, and Wi-Fi 7
VVDN Technologies and Blue Star have formed a strategic alliance to co-develop and manufacture new-generation controllers for residential and commercial AC segments. VVDN specialises in PCB layout
and design of power controllers. VVDN has also begun working on the next generation technologies in the networking and Wi-Fi space. VVDN does end-to-end product development and continues to build these products based on the next-generation technologies like Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6/6e, and wireless mesh. It has also started doing design work related to Wi-Fi 7 for its customers.
RattanIndia Enterprises to launch consumer micro drones across India
RattanIndia Enterprises has announced its plans to develop and launch consumer micro drones across India through its subsidiary NeoSky India Ltd. NeoSky is aiming to be the first Indian company to achieve this milestone. These drones will be widely used at weddings, for sports coverage, broadcasting, amateur travel vlogs, surveillance, and warehouse management.
Vedanta surveying Pune to set up chip manufacturing plant
Vedanta Group has sent a team to Pune to survey the feasibility of setting up its electronic chip plant in the district. Vedanta has plans to initially make 28-nanometre electronic chips that can be widely used in mobiles, power, and automotive products.
STL partners with Analog Devices to develop 5G O-RAN radio units
Mumbai based digital networks integrator Sterlite Technologies (STL) is collaborating with chip maker Analog Devices to develop 5G Open RAN radio units (O-RU). As a part of this collaboration, STL and Analog Devices will work closely with other ecosystem providers, including leading power amplifier vendors, to expand the range of STL’s Garuda O-RU indoor small cell offerings. STL will integrate Analog Devices’ transceivers into Garuda to create power-efficient, high-performance radios.
Hero MotoCorp to enter EV space through Vida brand
Domestic two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp has announced a new brand, Vida, through which it will enter the electric vehicle market in July. All the company’s upcoming EV initiatives and launches will be made through the Vida brand. Customer deliveries of the first product will start later this year. The company will manufacture the electric vehicles at a factory in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.