Motorola announced Wednesday an initial investment of US$30 million in a new manufacturing facility at Sriperumbadur near Chennai in south India. The company plans a total investment of US$100 million in phases.The facility, which will be operational next year, will make mobile handsets and network base stations.In December, Motorola launched a low-end mobile handset in India. A local contract manufacturer made the C115 for Motorola, of Schaumburg, Ill. India’s mobile market is booming, with mobile subscribers outstripping fixed-line telephone subscribers. The country added 3.88 million mobile subscribers in April to take the total number of mobile subscribers to 97 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.Motorola’s facility is coming up in the 300-acre Sriperumbadur Hi-tech Special Economic Zone being developed jointly by Motorola and the local state government of Tamil Nadu. Chennai, which is the hometown of the country’s IT and communications minister, Dayanidhi Maran, has emerged as a popular location for communications and networking company facilities. Motorola competitor Nokia of Espoo, Finland, set up a manufacturing facility in the city as well as a network operation center for global customers. Manufacturing locally helps multinational companies like Motorola and Nokia bid for contracts from India’s large state-owned service provider, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL). BSNL mandates that its suppliers to do some manufacturing in India. BSNL’s move is part of a government strategy to boost manufacturing in the country. Telecom and IT equipment manufacturing is crucial for job creation, Maran said last month in Delhi. The government expects about an $11 billion investment in manufacturing in the next two to three years. Motorola already has six Indian R&D centers, which employ about 3,000 engineers. The Indian centers are involved in mobile phone design.-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service For related news coverage, read Apple Calls Off Plans for Call Center in India and IBM Announces $6B Investment in India.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks Operational technology systems require a robust Zero Trust strategy in 2024 Zero Trust provides a foundation for creating a stronger security posture in 2024. By Navneet Singh, vice president of marketing, network security, Palo Alto Networks Dec 05, 2023 6 mins Security brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM How digital twin technology is changing complex industrial processes forever As the use cases for digital twins proliferate, it is becoming clear that data-driven enterprises with a track record of innovation stand the best chance of success. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM Why modernising applications needs to be a ‘must’ for businesses seeking growth Around one-third of enterprises are spending heavily on application modernisation and aiming for cloud native status. The implications for corporate culture, structure and priorities will be profound. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation opinion 11 ways to reduce your IT costs now Reorienting IT’s budget toward future opportunities is a big reason why CIOs should review their IT portfolios with an eye toward curbing unnecessary spending and realizing maximum value from every IT investment. By Stephanie Overby Dec 05, 2023 11 mins Budget Cloud Management IT Governance Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe