Spice Ltd. has announced that it will set up a GSM handset facility to tap surging demand for mobile phones in India.
"We are looking at making at least a million handsets in the first full year of operations," Kunal Ahuja, CEO of Spice said . "The factory should be ready by the end of this year, and make at least 100,000 units a month."
Ahuja said the factory would churn out five GSM models priced at up to 5,000 rupees and trial runs were expected to start in September.
Spice currently imports 50,000 units a month and sells them primarily in northern and western parts of the country.
Ahuja declined to give any investment details.
Based on the outskirts of Delhi, Spice is a part of the Modi group which also runs a GSM services business through Spice Communications Ltd.
Malaysia's dominant phone provider, Telekom Malaysia, bought a 49 percent stake in Spice Communications for .8 million in March.
