Make In India Push: Sony, Thompson To Resume Manufacturing In India After A Decade

By Mohul Ghosh Last updated Aug 5, 2015

PM Modi’s Make In India vision is now working like a magnet, attracting global corporations to start manufacturing in India. After it influenced mobile manufacturers to start production within India, as a result of which 20% of all phones sold are ‘Made in India’; it’s the turn of consumer electronics giants now.

As per reports coming in, Sony and Thompson, both have decided to resume manufacturing in India after a gap of 10+ years.

Sony Bravia Televisions To Be Manufactured In India Now

Sony, which has recently launched a new line of Android powered Bravia series Televisions, will now manufacture them in India as well.

They have entered into an agreement with Foxconn, which will enable them to produce Bravia series of TVs at their Chennai plant.

Sony India managing director Kenichiro Hibi said, “The government’s ‘Make in India‘ policy and the growing importance of India for Sony worldwide has accelerated our decision to manufacture in India once again.”

Sharing the reason Sony believes that local manufacturing will help them, he said, “Local production will help us to be more competitive, lower costs and allow faster turnaround time to launch newer models.”

With TVs and smartphones contributing 40% of Sony India’s revenues (Rs 10, 400 crore in 2010-15), it seems a logical step right now.

India is their 4^th largest market after USA, China and Japan.

Way back in 2004, they had shut down their Haryana factory which manufactured home theaters and audio systems. But they found that importing them from South Eastern countries like Thailand and Malaysia proved less expensive, and they shut down their factory.

To kickstart the process, Sony India will manufacture 43” models of Bravia series at Sriperumbudur plant of Competition Team Technology (India), a subsidiary of Foxconn. Soon they will start the process for 22” TVs as well.

Hibi further said, “If this turns out to be successful, Sony may evaluate setting up its own plant in India.”

The fight for dominating Rs 20,000 crore market for LCD TVs in India is hot right now, with rivals Samsung and LG closely competing with Sony. Considering that LG and Samsung have already started manufacturing in India, it became necessary for Sony to resume production as well, which will certainly help them to counter their competitors on price point.

Thompson Reenters India With An Investment of Rs 300 Crore

Brand Thompson, which is part of 125 year old French MNC Technicolor SA, will resume manufacturing in India after a gap of 10 years.

As per reports, Thompson has signed a pact with Hyderabad based Resolute Electronics to invest Rs 300 crore in their new production facility. Resolute Electronics will be their brand licensee for manufacturing LED TVs and large / small kitchen appliances for the Indian market.

A Gopal Krishna, CEO of Resolute Electronics who also work as Managing director of Thomson, India, said, “For an early go-to market, we have tied up with online marketplace Flipkart to launch the TVs in August,”

An elated K T Rama Rao, minister of Panchayat Raj and IT, Telangana said, “This falls in line with the government’s vision of Make in India and will provide direct employment to 500 people and indirect employment to more,”

By the time 2015 ends, Thompson has planned to roll out their own branded LED TVs in India, followed by Washing Machines in March next year and ACs by next August.

Rs 300 crore would be utilized in the next three years to manufacture 2000 LED units per day in their new Hyderabad factory. They will also open 500 in-house stores all over the country.

Make in India vision has already generated 2.75 lakh new jobs along with 118% increase in employment. After these new announcements of manufacturing units in the country, the positive effects of this massive campaign will only increase.

Some major announcements under Make in India program: