Japanese electronics major Panasonic has drawn up aggressive plans to invest Rs. 1,500 crore in its India operations, expecting to garner revenues of $3.66 billion by 2015-16. The company will be focussing on its smart mobile phones and battery business.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Panasonic India MD Manish Sharma said the two verticals were expected to account for about 25 per cent of the company’s total business from the next fiscal. Last year the company closed with $1.3 billion (Rs.7,500 crore), and is hopeful of adding another Rs. 2,500 crore to that figure.
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Referring to the sharp increase in number of smartphones across the country, he said the company was sure of doing at least Rs. 700 crore of business in the mobile phones vertical alone, closely followed by its energy business, both of which they were serious about.
It required ‘critical mass’ to set up a mobile phone assembly unit in India, Mr. Sharma said, and, considering that import tariffs on mobile phones were not very high, it was all right to get phones and tablets from China or Taiwan.
This month, they were planning on launching three new models of mobile phones he said, adding that there was huge potential in rural markets.
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