Lava International's Tirupati plant to go on stream in 2017.

Lava International said that its proposed handset manufacturing facility at Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh would be operational in 2017.

“Being set up on 20 acre with an investment of Rs. 500 crore, the plant will target a production capacity of five million phones per month once fully functional,” Sandeep Dongre, senior vice-president and hub head (east, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh), told mediapersons.

Stating that Lava’s revenues in Telangana and AP grew 104 per cent in 2015 over 2014, taking the volume market share to 9.5 per cent, he said it became the number one brand among the home-grown players in the two markets during the November 2015-January 2016 time frame.

“Lava increased its retail base to 4,067 in October 2015, compared with 1,515 retailers in January 2015, an increase of 150 per cent,” Dongre said.

BS