Europe’s top electronics manufacturing services firm, Elcoteq, will invest $50 million to $100 million in 2006 in its Indian handset unit to tap rising demand in a booming market, an official said.

The plant, on the outskirts of India’s technology capital, Bangalore, will have capacity to make 10 million handsets when fully operational, Kaapo Liede, general manager for the Indian operations of Finland’s Elcoteq, said.
Demand for mobile phones and services is soaring in India, which already is the fastest-growing mobile market thanks to low phone penetration and the cheapest domestic call rates in the world.
Earlier this month, Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, said it would invest between $100 million and $150 million to set up a mobile phone plant in Madras (Chennai).
Elcoteq’s new unit, inaugurated by Indian Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, will also make telecoms gear for customers in the Asia-Pacific region, a company statement said.
Elcoteq, which gets a bulk of its business from making handsets and mobile phone network equipment for companies like Nokia, will employ about 1,000 workers in India.
On average, about 1.7 million new customers are entering India’s 51.4-million-strong wireless sector each month. The furiously expanding market is widely expected to reach 80 million users by December.