Samsung plans to shift its smartphone manufacturing plant in India

The South Korean smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, in search of cheap labour, is reportedly looking to move some of its production line to India. As per the reports, the global giant is in the midst of finalising plans to produce devices worth over ₹3 lakh crore ($40 billion) locally.

The development comes as the smartphone-making behemoth is in the midst of packing up its manufacturing process back home due to increasing labour costs. As of right now, Samsung manufacturers nearly half of its phones in Vietnam. It also has manufacturing bases in Brazil and Indonesia.

According to the report, the company is looking to diversify its production lines for making smartphones in India under the Production Linked Incentive Schemes (PLI).

Samsung is among other smartphone manufacturers like Apple’s Foxconn and Wistron, who has filed an application with the government under the PLI scheme, according to IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

There has been a rush of contractors looking to shift bases as products from China come under more scrutiny across the world. India, alone, is the second-largest smartphone market in the world - one that manufacturers cannot afford to lose as India pushes the Atma Nirbhar agenda.

Samsung already has its largest mobile phone manufacturing unit in the world set up in Noida, from where it also exports to other countries. If Samsung were to expand its manufacturing base in India, most of the smartphones in the plus $200 segment will be exported -adding to India’s outgoing trade - according to the report. Currently, they only account for 2% of Samsung’s exports from the country.