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    Mobile phones’ manufacturing to restart

    Synopsis

    Makers of iphone & Xiaomi phones get requisite permissions from state authorities in South

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    NEW DELHI: iPhone makers Foxconn and Wistron are set to resume production after obtaining permission from state authorities in southern India, marking the restart of India’s handset production that had to close down totally amid the Covid-induced lockdown, losing ₹20,000-25,000 crore.

    Foxconn also makes Xiaomi devices and Wistron is also the maker of Apple smartphones.

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    However, companies such as Dixon, Samsung, Oppo and Lava, which have factories at Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, continue to be in a limbo due to lack of clarity on starting operations.

    Mobile Phones’ Manufacturing to Restart

    Manu Jain, India head at Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, said its manufacturing partners will soon resume production after getting local approvals from state governments. Foxconn, Xiaomi’s manufacturing partner, has received approval from the Andhra Pradesh government for the Sri City plant and will start production soon.

    “The ramp-up will be slow. We are hoping them to be up and running soon,” Jain said on Monday.

    Muralikrishnan B, COO at Xiaomi India, added the company expects to hit regular capacity by June, with labour shortage being a key issue.

    Ä person familiar with the matter said that Foxconn has got approval to resume production with 10% workforce, but getting people is a big challenge. Wistron, on its part, got an approval from the Karnataka government.
    “Noida and Greater Noida region are the biggest concerns,” India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) chairman Pankaj Mohindroo told ET.

    Wistron’s rented facility in an industrial suburb near Bengaluru makes the iPhone 7, while Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant assembles the iPhone XR. Foxconn also makes phones for Xiaomi and HMD (Nokia-branded phones).

    Handsets makers in UP are, meanwhile, awaiting the state government nod to restart their factories in Noida and Greater Noida, which are in the red zone.
    The Economic Times

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