Mumbai Ericsson, a global mobile and broadband Internet communication services provider, said it will set up a new research and development centre and a separate global services delivery centre in India.
Ericsson, said in a statement, the research and development centre would be in Chennai, while the global delivery centre would be in Gurgaon.
The company did not disclose any financial details.
India is the world's fastest growing major mobile phone market, with about 2.5 million new users signing up every month.
Analysts estimate 30-35 million mobile phones will be sold in India in 2005.
IN March, Ericsson had said would spend $50 million to upgrade its telecoms equipment unit in Rajasthan over the next two years.
Korea's LG Electronics already makes mobile phones in India; Nokia has a plant under construction in Chennai, while Samsung Electronics has said it is considering setting up a plant.
Investment plan
Ericsson will invest more than USD 100 million annually in the next three to four years towards its expansion plans in India.
"India is one of our most exciting markets and we intends to invest in major areas of human resources deployment, expansion of existing manufacturing base and services network and investment in a new R&D facility at Chennai," said Ericsson President and CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg.
He said that Ericsson's investment in its Indian operation would go up beyond USD 100 million annually as the company is poised for expansion of its existing manufacturing facility at Kukas in Rajasthan.
It is also engaged in network spectrum development and 3-G facility in order to catch up with the future opportunity in India.
Ericsson is positioning itself in domestic telecommunication industry as a prime driver in achieving the next wave of mobile communications in India, he said.
Ericsson is also looking at huge recruitment of technical manpower from India in order to create a large human capital to support the proposed expansion program in the country and also overseas.
Currently, it employs over 1500 persons in 22 locations in India and engages over 3000 partner employees around the country.
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