"Nokia Signs MoU with Tamil Nadu for ₹450 Crore R&D Centre Expansion"

Guidance Tamil Nadu and Nokia are set to exchange a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in San Francisco, California, in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin and Industries Minister TRB Rajaa. The agreement will support the expansion of Nokia’s Research and Development (R&D) centre, focusing on innovations in 10G, 25G, 50G, and 100G PON, Fixed Wireless Access, MDU solutions, as well as access network and home controllers. The Tamil Nadu government has committed to providing Nokia with essential infrastructure, along with regulatory and policy support.

Nokia’s telecom equipment factory in Sriperumbudur, one of the company’s largest globally, produces telecom infrastructure equipment for 4G/5G networks for both domestic and international markets. Nokia already operates two R&D centres in India, located in Bengaluru and Chennai.

Industries Minister TRB Rajaa highlighted Tamil Nadu's growing prominence as a global destination for R&D and technology services, stating, "Nokia has been a long-standing partner in Tamil Nadu’s growth story, and it is a matter of pride for us that the new facility, the largest fixed network lab within Nokia and probably the whole world, will be in Chennai."

Tamil Nadu has been strengthening its position as a telecom R&D hub with significant investments in recent years. Last October, Swedish telecom giant Ericsson established a 6G research and development team in Chennai. Additionally, a centre of excellence on 6G Quantum Communications was inaugurated at IIT-Madras Research Park last week, spearheading the development and deployment of 6G technologies. IIT Madras’ Pravartak Technologies also features a ComNet lab to test 5G networks.

This expansion marks Nokia's return to prominence in Tamil Nadu. The company was once a key player in the state’s electronics manufacturing sector, with over 50,000 employees producing made-in-India Nokia mobile phones at the Sriperumbudur SEZ. However, the plant was shuttered in 2014 following a ₹21,000-crore tax dispute with the Income-Tax Department.

HBL