In a year’s time, Intex Technologies, the Rs. 4,000 crore Indian smartphone, consumer durables and IT products manufacturer aims to manufacture an entire line of mobile phones, including components, in India

Intex Technologies, an Indian smartphones, consumer durables and IT accessories manufacturer, has been in operations in India since 2001. Particularly in the last three years, it has recorded a CAGR of 69 per cent, and captured an overall mobile market share of 12 percent (as per IDC reports), driven by a culmination of product innovation, designing a strong service, distribution and marketing strategy, and strengthening its retail presence across more than 50 cities in India.

Today, while the mobile division remains its key growth driver, the CDIT business too has contributed to the company’s topline and IT products, the oldest category in the Intex portfolio, remains its mainstay. The company, which expanded its consumer durables portfolio with the sale of a few thousand LED TVs in its first year of operations, today boasts a sale of a couple of lakh units per annum, with an annual growth of 150 per cent since.

From an intex perspective, i believe there are two key impacts of make in india: creation of jobs for millions of indian youth and reducing the huge imports of electronic goods which is second only to oil imports

Particularly on the lines of Make in India, the company has four manufacturing units in India, across Jammu, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh and Noida. While the Jammu plant holds the capacity to manufacture 1.8 million speakers annually, the Baddi plant can manufacture 3.6 lakh LED TVs, 15 million mobile batteries, eight million chargers and eight million feature phones, and the Noida plant has a capacity to manufacture 15 million mobile handsets and six lakh smartphones a month.

To further consolidate operations, Intex has already begun the process of manufacturing components used in mobile phones and developing an entire ecosystem of ancillary units feeding the main unit. By mid of 2016, it will see up to 30 per cent to 40 per cent of components used in the production of mobile phones, manufactured in India through technical JVs. The target is to manufacture the complete unit of mobile phone including components in India in a year’s time. In terms of employment, the Rs. 4000 crore (FY 14-15) business enterprise gives employment to over 13,000 people.

In other segments, in the coming year, the company plans to introduce varied models of its power banks and high powered battery segment, and expand its multimedia speakers’ portfolio with the addition of 2.1, 4.1 and 5.1 series. This year, it also plans to expand its wearable product range along with 4G/LTE & VOLTE enabled smartphones. Moreover, diversifying from the consumer electronic business, Intex has this year entered into the sports arena, having successfully bought an IPL Team, later rechristened as Gujarat Lions. It plans to ride on IPL to strengthen its brand presence and recall globally.

Alongside its plans to establish a global presence and increase product offerings locally, Keshav Bansal, the director of Intex Technologies, shares his views on how the Make in India campaign is impacting the business, and how it can boost the manufacturing sector in India.

The Impact of Make in India 

The Make in India initiative is a watershed step towards unveiling the manufacturing prowess and opportunities in the country. Two key impacts of this initiative are creation of jobs for millions of Indian youth and reducing the huge imports of electronic goods which is second to oil imports and has the potential to become the biggest import item for India.

By fiscal 2016-17, the industry expects to reduce its dependence on electronics imports by almost 15 percentage points to around 50 per cent. The mobile industry would benefit from the declining cost of manufacturing as the availability of labour would ride on creating goods at a lower price and in general, local manufacturing will help Indian manufacturers have complete control on product innovation, designing, customisation and the overall manufacturing process.

To ensure its sustenance, the government should create, encourage and facilitate an environment that incubates a complete mobile ecosystem that includes building a domestic component manufacturing and designing platform, and combining India development with Digital India and Skill India to not only give impetus to manufacturing, but to also drive overall economic growth.

Catering to Infrastructure & Employment Needs

While global component manufacturers and smartphone brands have begun the process of setting up shop in India, the Government has also taken several initiatives to sustain this inflow. It has started building key infrastructure across states, such as the Golden Quadrilateral, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and Eastern-Western expressways. It is also trying to make Goods and Service Tax or GST a reality. Having said this, the Indian Government must setup eco-friendly and world class infrastructure, subsidise land rates, encourage high-tech imports for technology, and give a boost to R&D, which has slackened in recent months.