Samsung to set up second plant in India

New Delhi: As it eyes $2 billion sales in India by 2008, South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung on Thursday said it will set up a second plant in the country.

"We have decided to set up a second plant in India to meet the growing demand in the market," Samsung India Deputy Managing Director R Zutshi said.

Samsung, which began operations in India in December 1995, currently sells consumer electronics products in the market, apart from being present in the telecommunications and IT segment.

The company had a turnover of Rs 6,300 crore in 2005 and expects a 20 per cent growth on this in 2006.

Zutshi said exact details on the new plant would be announced in the next one month. He refused to divulge further details on the investment proposed for the new plant or its location.

The investments for the second plant would be funded by the Indian subsidiary as well as the parent. "It will be a mix of local as well as from the parent," he said.

Samsung India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the $56.7 billion South Korean major Samsung Electronics.

Zutshi said the company had become profitable from the second year of operation in the Indian market. The company has so far invested $150 million in India and has its manufacturing facility at Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

Zutshi said consumer electronics division provided as much as 54 per cent to the company's revenues in India while the rest came from the telecom and IT divisions.

Samsung on Thursday launched a slew of products in the 'digital media' segment where it sells products like digital still cameras, camcorders, MP3 players and DVD players.

"We expect a 70 per cent growth in the digital media business in 2006 and would be launching new products in the segment," Zutshi said.

In the TV segment, Samsung hopes to sell 1.8 million units in the country as it expects overall sales in the category to grow by 7-8 per cent to around 10 million units.

Zutshi said as much as 70 per cent of the company's sales came from the urban market while the rural areas contributed the rest.

Samsung India is the hub for Samsung's South-West Asia Regional operations. Apart from India, the South-West Asia Regional headquarters looks after the Samsung business in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.

Zutshi said exports from the Indian subsidiary were to the tune of Rs 100 crore in 2005 and were expected to touch Rs 150 crore this year.