Xiaomi announces third Indian manufacturing facility in Noida

Xiaomi has become fastest growing smartphone brand in India with a growth rate of nearly 300 per cent year-on-year

Smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday announced its third manufacturing plant in India and the first facility for power banks in partnership with Hipad Technology in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Along with this, Xiaomi also announced the launch of two new power banks- 10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i and 20000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i.

Extending its commitment to the Make in India initiative, Mi Power Bank 2i will be assembled at Hipad Technology's facility in Noida. Hipad Technology's manufacturing unit is a dedicated Power Bank facility for Xiaomi and is spread across 2.3 lakh square feet. The starting production capacity for the facility is nearly seven power banks per minute during its operational hours.

Xiaomi entered India in July 2014 and quickly announced plans to establish its first manufacturing plant for its smartphones. Today, the company has two smartphone manufacturing plants in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh and more than 95 per cent of its smartphones sold in India are assembled locally.

Earlier this year, Xiaomi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spoke at length about delivering on Make in India initiative.

"Xiaomi India has seen exponential growth in India and today it enjoys market leadership in the smartphone segment. I believe a key reason for our success in the smartphone segment has been our commitment to India. We want our India Mi Fans to enjoy the best quality technology at an affordable rate, and manufacturing locally helps us achieve our vision. We are extending our commitment of building a truly localised company and hope to bring the ecosystem of world's best power banks to India with our partners Hipad Technology," said vice president Xiaomi and managing director Xiaomi India, Manu Jain.

10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i features an elegant double anodised aluminium design that is lightweight and 14.2mm slim. Boasting up to 85 per cent conversion rate, it can charge a standard smartphone multiple times. For instance, 10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i can charge Mi A1 up to 2.2 times or Redmi Note 4 up to 1.5 times. (more)

Oppo to set up Rs 2,200-cr smartphone manufacturing unit in Greater Noida

Domestic smartphone maker is looking to begin export of phones made in India in the next 2-3 years

Smartphone maker Oppo Mobiles is planning to invest around Rs 2,200 crore in India for a mobile phone manufacturing facility. The proposed investment will be at Greater Noida.

The company has submitted documents related to the proposed project to the Environment Ministry and said that the net amount required for the establishment of the second unit in Uttar Pradesh includes land as well as development costs.

The project is expected to be a self-sufficient manufacturing establishment, spreading across an area of 110.04 acres.

In its response to a set of questions posed by the Business Standard, Oppo said its other assembly unit in Noida, which began production in July 2016, has reached full capacity and plans were being firmed up for the setting up of a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) manufacturing facility at Greater Noida in the state.

Also Read : Honor Holly 4 smartphone launched in India at Rs 11,999

An SMT unit produces printed circuit boards of an electronic device on which various circuits are embedded that allow the basic functioning of the device.

At present, most companies, assemble phones from semi-knocked down (SKD) mobile phone modules or kits. SMT is part of the completely knocked down (CKD) phase of assembling, wherein a handset-maker imports individual components in a CKD form and assembles them in India. This takes manufacturing a step up from SKD.

In the next 2-3 years, in line with company's plan, Oppo will begin exporting phones manufactured in India to West Asia, North Africa and other South Asian markets. Currently, the products are offered restricted to Indian consumers. (more)

NIA officer murder case: Prime accused Muneer nabbed by UP STF

NIA officer murder case: Prime accused Muneer nabbed by UP STF

In a major breakthrough in the murder case of Deputy Superintendent of Police of NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA), Tanzeel Ahmed, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Tuesday arrested Muneer, the prime accused in the case.

Muneer has been arrested from Noida and has been taken to an undisclosed location for questioning.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs. 2 lakh on Muneer, who was absconding in the murder case of Tanzeel Ahmed.

The police had earlier said Muneer, who is the main accused of murder case, formed a gang along with his two associates and attacked Tanzeel Ahmed, when he was driving back home with his family from a wedding near his village Sahaspur in Bijnor.

According to reports, different investigative agencies along with the NIA are questioning Muneer. Read more