The list of global tech companies manufacturing their products in India continues to grow longer.
India’s Dixon has partnered with Nokia to make broadband devices in India. Under the partnership, Dixon will make 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and Wi-Fi beacons for Nokia at its Noida factory. The factory will manufacture 10 million units a year, and provide employment to 3,000 people.
“Our partnership with Nokia represents a milestone in India’s manufacturing sector, supporting the vision of a self-reliant India,” Dixon Technologies Vice Chairman and Managing Director Atul B Lall said. “As we begin local production of these advanced broadband devices, Dixon reaffirms its commitment to expanding India’s electronics ecosystem,” he added.
Nokia is best known for its phones, but is also a market leader in broadband infrastructure equipment with a significant proportion of Indian homes connected to Nokia Fiber broadband equipment. It currently supports over half of India’s FTTH infrastructure. “This collaboration will produce GPON, 5G FWA, and Mesh Wi-Fi devices capable of delivering up to one gigabit per second per home,” Nokia said in a statement. Nokia’s Chennai-based R&D center will be responsible for the design and development of these devices, and they’ll be manufactured in Noida in collaboration with Dixon.
Nokia isn’t the only tech giant that Dixon has partnered with in recent times to help them build their products in India. Dixon is already building phones for Samsung and Xiaomi, and recently partnered with Google to make its Pixel phones in India. Earlier this year, it had partnered with HP and Asus to make laptops in its Tamil Nadu facilities. Dixon is also a contract manufacturer for companies like Panasonic and Philips in India.
Dixon has spent plenty of time honing its skills in the electronics manufacturing space. The company was founded in 1993 by Sunil Vachani and is headquartered in Noida. Dixon had started off manufacturing colour TVs, and by 2008 was also manufacturing lighting blubs. In 2010, the company had begun manufacturing LED TVs. Over the years, Dixon has expanded its operations to various sub-segments of electronics, including consumer durables, home appliances, lighting, mobile phones, security devices, set top boxes, wearables and medical equipment. The company has manufacturing facilities located in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, along with R&D centers in India and China. Last year, it recorded revenue of Rs. 17,691 crore, and employed 2,840 people.
And India’s electronics manufacturing has been coming into its own in recent years. Buoyed by the government’s PLI schemes, smartphones have gone past gasoline to become India’s fourth largest export, and the sector now employs more than 10 lakh people. And with some of the biggest global names queuing up to set up manufacturing units in India, the growth in the space might just be getting started.