Xiaomi has announced that it intends to extend its 'Make in India' initiative. The Beijing-based OEM has tied with two new partners - DBG and BYD - to set up new manufacturing plants to make smartphones in India. DBG has already set up its plant in Haryana and BYD is very close to having its plant in Tamil Nadu be operational.
Once these factories are fully operational, Xiaomi will expand its manufacturing processes to include locally assembled camera modules, PCBA (motherboards), sub-boards, back panels, batteries, cables and chargers to the components it currently makes for its smartphones in India.
When asked about the total percentage of the components made locally compared to components sourced from overseas, Mi India's MD Manu Kumar Jain stressed that it, "was a step by step journey and we will slowly expand as we go along. For example, we make the battery packs in India but some of the components needed to make that battery may still come from abroad. This is also a great incentive for more local Indian companies to come partner with us once they see what we are doing."
Currently, Xiaomi says the components made locally in India make up 75% of the value of the smartphones and 99% of its smartphones sold in India are assembled locally.
Xiaomi's partnership with DBG has already increased its manufacturing capacity by 20% and BYD is also expected to contribute significantly when the site is operational sometime this year.
Xiaomi also touched upon its smart TV business in the country sharing that it was India's number 1 smart TV brand for 10 consecutive quarters in India. Xiaomi also has a new partner - Radiant Technology - that has a set up a new manufacturing plant in Telangana, with the new plant Xiaomi says that it now makes hundred percent of the smart TV's sold by Mi India in India.
Xiaomi India has also expanded its workforce in the country, with the 'Mi India family' now 60,000 people strong. The company says that it generated more than 10,000 new jobs with its partners.
"In addition to increase in manufacturing capacity, Mi India has also scaled up its employment generation by 20% to 60,000 which includes employees and third-party manpower,” said Muralikrishnan B, Mi India's COO.
