Tarang Mobile, a domestic smartphone brand, opened its first assembly plant near Lucknow on Friday and said it expects to employ 1,800 people within a year when all four production lines are running.
The plant will assemble the company's budget and mid-range phones, with an initial capacity of about 150,000 units a month. Chargers, cases and packaging will come from small suppliers in the region, the company said.
"We want the phone and most of what comes in the box to be made within a few hours' drive of this plant," said Tarang's managing director, Vivek Sood. "That cuts costs and creates work in the supplier towns too."
Who is being hired
- About 70 per cent of the first 600 hires are women, mostly from nearby districts.
- New workers get eight weeks of paid training on assembly and testing.
- The company runs buses from three towns and a hostel for workers from farther away.
- An on-site creche opens next month for workers with young children.
Industry analysts say assembly plants create many jobs but add limited value unless more components are made locally. Tarang says it is in talks with two firms about making circuit boards in the region within three years.
Local officials welcomed the plant, while a workers' rights group urged the company to publish wage rates and shift rules for all contractors working on the site.
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