Wireless

April 15, 2005
Nokia selects Chennai for manufacturing mobile devices

BANGALORE -- Nokia, a world leader in mobile communications, recently announced that it will set up its manufacturing facility for mobile devices at Chennai, India. The manufacturing unit will be Nokia's 10th-mobile device production facility globally. Nokia anticipates investing an estimated US$ 100-150 million in the Chennai production plant. The construction work at the site will start in April 2005, and production is likely to begin in the first half of 2006. Nokia foresees ramping up of the factory gradually and the work force reaching approximately 2,000 employees when production is full scale.

Mobile penetration in Asia Pacific is likely to be a major contributor to the global mobile subscriber base surpassing the two billion mark by the end of 2005. India which is set at the heart of the region where mobile communications is growing rapidly, was a natural location of choice for the new production facility. In India, Nokia is the market leader in mobile devices. Nokia maintains sales, marketing, customer care, and R&D sites in the country, and was recently recognised as the brand of the year by CII as well as the most respected consumer durables company by BusinessWorld magazine.

Pekka Ala-Pietilä, president, Nokia, said: "Establishing a new factory in India is an important step in the continuous development of our global manufacturing network. We selected Chennai to be the location for the factory thanks to the availability of skilled labour, friendly business environment, support from the state government, good logistics connections and overall cost-efficiency."

Contact:
Nokia
www.nokia.com