Micromax has announced its comeback in the Indian smartphone market with its “In” range of smartphones. Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma announced that company’s re-entry in the smartphone space via a short video on Twitter.
Sharma in the video shared the company’s journey, which was put to a stop after the entry of Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the Indian market.
The fate of homegrown companies has been uncertain since 2016 when they failed to launch 4G phones at affordable prices. Micromax, which in 2014 was the number 2 smartphone maker in India, was wiped out of the market by the Chinese brands.
However, after the government’s call for an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India), the company has now decided to make a comeback with its “In” range of smartphones. Details about the first Micromax smartphone under the “In” branding are currently unknown. Sharma also did not reveal the estimated launch date of the smartphone in India.
The company has also confirmed to invest Rs 500 crore on expanding local manufacturing and research and development (R&D) operations as it prepares a comeback plan in India's smartphone market.
“The new PLI scheme balances out foreign and Indian players. The support of 6 percent is big and with the government support, we will be able to fight Chinese brands fiercely on the pricing front," Sharma had said, adding that internal accruals are good for the plan and the company will raise money at the right time.
Industry body ICEA, which represents top mobile phone makers like Apple, Foxconn, Wistron, Lava, etc, said companies have committed investments worth Rs 11,000 crore under the PLI scheme and they will surpass manufacturing estimates by 2 to 2.5 times.
The PLI scheme was introduced by the government in the electronics manufacturing segment on April 1 earlier this year, under the National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019 that aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).
Also read: What is production linked incentive scheme?
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
