US telecom giant Motorola has decided to license third party manufacturing of GSM cellular phones in the country which will be available to consumers at below Rs 2,000 per set. The cheapest cellular phone available in India now range between Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,800.
Motorola will provide Indian manufacturers the chip, the printed circuit board as well as expertise to manufacture the cellular phones. Under the programme, known as low cost architecture (LCA) scheme, the number of components needed for making a phone would be around 200 compared to 400 in the imported cellular phones. Motorola is also ready to co-brand the phones with the Indian manufacturers.
Pramod Saxena, country head of Motorola, told Business Standard:
