Barely weeks have passed since Samsung decided to throw more money at its Noida mobile OLED factory project and it's now doing an encore. To date, the company committed approximately Rs. 1,500 crore to the facility, with new disclosures confirming an extra Rs. 5,000 crore – equating to over $675,000 – is on its way. That's according to Satish Mahana, the industrial development minister for Uttar Pradesh.
The official said Samsung has so far been among the state's key partners in driving economic growth in a post-lockdown world. In addition to being one of the rare few prospective investors in Uttar Pradesh who haven't really scaled down their plans over the course of this year but have instead doubled down on them – repeatedly, following today's development.
Samsung remains adamant to invest in India
While the Noida plant construction was previously targeting mid-2021 completion, the latest investments upgraded those expectations. Therefore, Samsung now expects all heavy construction work to be completed as early as January. The plant should consequently start commercial display production no later than April, Mahana said.
Samsung's latest India investment is meant to result in an export-oriented factory specializing in small OLED for smartphones. Samsung previously projected the initiative will create around 1,500 jobs in the country. The overall value of the project was previously pegged at north of half a billion dollars. Looking at the bigger picture, the move is part of Samsung's pursuit of domestic manufacturing subsidies from New Delhi. While this year's developments impacted some of its near-term revenue targets, it would appear Samsung's overall investment strategy remains as fixated on India as ever.
