Domestic mobile handset maker Lava International plans to set up a research and development (R&D) centre in Hyderabad and is in advanced stage of talks with the Telangana government. The company operates an R&D facility in Bengaluru with over 400 employees. “We have already submitted an application to Telangana government for setting up an R&D centre and discussions are at an advanced stage. Once we get the nod, we will set up the R&D centre in Hyderabad.

The plan is to employ 200 personnel at this proposed centre,” Sandeep Dongre, vice-president and Business Unit Head – South. The company plans to invest Rs 200 crore in R&D over the next three years. Lava has a manufacturing unit in Noida from where it is meeting domestic and overseas needs. The company has earmarked Rs 500 crore for its second manufacturing plant in Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), which will be set up over 20 acres of land allotted by the government and will be ready next year with a production capacity of five million phones per month once fully functional.

The company has chalked out plans to invest Rs 2,615 crore over the next seven years (over three phases). In phase-I, the company has invested Rs 56 crore and in phase-II, it will be investing 1,052 crore. And in phase-III, it will complete investment of Rs 2,615 crore. The company plans to achieve 18 million handsets per month capacity by the end of the third phase, eight years from now.