Motorola 'calls up' TN, to set up manufacturing facility

Chennai, Jun 7 (UNI) After Finnish Major Nokia, it is the turn of Motorola to dial ''T'' for Tamil Nadu, as the mobile phone major today announced the setting up of a manufacturing facility at an initial investment of 30 million US dollars.

To be located in the 300-acre hi-tech Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being developed jointly by Motorola and the Tamil Nadu Government at Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from here, the announcement marked yet another milestone in the Indian telecommunication market, touted to be among the fasted growing in the globe.

Earlier, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to this effect between Motorola and the state Government in the presence of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Union IT and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran at the State Secretariat.

Later, at a press conference, Mr Maran and Motorola India Chairman Firdose Vandrevala said the investments will be scaled up to 100 million USD in a phased manner.

The facility will act as a further catalyst in bringing the highest level of technology and electronics manufacturing to the country.

Once the SEZ became fully operational, it will make Sriperumbudur the electronics manufacturing hub of the country, he claimed.

''I congratulate Motorola for yet another major effort in connecting the unconnected and accelerating the country's telecom revolution,'' Mr Maran said.

Expected to be operational in 2007, the state-of-the-art facility will undertake full scale production to support a wide range of Motorola handsets, Mr Vandrevala said.

''It will also support production and assembly of network base stations for products across Motorola's networks and enterprise portfolio,'' he added.

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