VVDN Technologies to invest $100mn in 5 years to expand manufacturing infra in India

Gurugram-headquartered contractual electronics manufacturer, VVDN Technologies, on Friday announced that it plans to invest $100 million in the next five years, in order to expand its manufacturing facilities to meet expanding global demand for electronics. As part of its expansion, the company has set-up a new manufacturing facility in Pollachi near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and also opened a new antenna manufacturing facility in Manesar near Gurugram, Haryana.

In a statement, Puneet Agarwal, chief executive of VVDN Technologies, said that the company also plans to add fabrication or manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to its abilities within the next one or two years, in order to have a full-stack manufacturing facility. The company presently has testing, mechanical processes, circuit assembly and engineering facilities, which are spread across its six manufacturing facilities in Manesar, and the one facility in Pollachi.

According to a press statement by the company, the set of manufacturing facilities that the company has enables it to add up to 50% of local value in the overall bill of materials (BoM) of a product.

VVDN, to be sure, has been investing in expanding its facilities. In October last year, Mint reported that the firm would invest ₹500 crore ($60.5 million) in order to set up a second plant in Tamil Nadu, which would house 1,000 engineers. The plant would add to the firm’s overall capacity in the state, alongside its existing Pollachi facility.

In October last year, VVDN also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US chipmaker Intel, in order to build devices with Intel’s 5G and connectivity chip designs. This, according to Agarwal, is part of an expected uptick in demand for device manufacturing, which the company said will also lead to higher export value of its devices.

To be sure, manufacturing firms have been increasing their capacities over the past one year. In September last year, Mint reported that manufacturers of televisions were stepping up efforts to evolve into being design-led manufacturers, instead of simply assembling units. At Union Budget 2023, a relaxation of customs duties in components required for making parts to assemble smartphones and TVs in India was said to potentially help India attract component manufacturing companies, which is also expected to expand local manufacturing value addition in the country.