Noida: Union Electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday inaugurated Optiemus Infracom’s tempered glass screen protectors factory here with an outlay of Rs 870 crore.
Earlier this month, the company launched RhinoTech — Made-in-India tempered glass screen protectors, which use glass engineered by US-based Corning.
Optiemus Infracom has invested Rs 70 crore in the first phase of the factory with an installed capacity of 25 million units per annum, generating direct employment for over 600 people.
In phase-II, Optiemus will scale up capacity to 200 million units per annum for local and global markets, with an additional investment of ₹800 crore – creating over 4,500 direct job opportunities, the company said.
Optiemus has partnered with US-based material technology firm Corning to manufacture tempered glass at the Noida factory.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, while inaugurating the facility, said that Optiemus should consider increasing its research team of 40 people to 400 people.
“Optiemus is the new gem in the fast-growing electronics manufacturing ecosystem in the country. By the end of this year, production of covered glass from Corning will also commence,” Vaishnaw said.
The overall ecosystem for components is developing rapidly in India. Over the last 11 years, electronics manufacturing has grown sixfold and today it is around ₹11.5 lakh crore industry, with exports of around ₹3.5 lakh crore, he said.
“Step by step, we plan to manufacture every component used in mobile devices right here in India in the near future. We also encourage research and development to take place in India and are working toward becoming a global player. Just as the tempered glass manufacturing plant has begun operations today, we will soon see ‘made in India’ chips as well. The electronics manufacturing industry is shaping up well and currently generates approximately 25 lakh jobs,” Vaishnaw added.
For tempered glass, it is estimated that the domestic market is more than 500 million pieces with a retail value of around ₹20,000 crore, showcasing a large-scale opportunity in the country. The global market is worth over $60 billion, said Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Optiemus Infracom.
“This is a landmark moment for the Indian electronics manufacturing industry and the Make in India vision. Despite being one of the world’s largest mobile phone markets, India has relied on imports for tempered glass. With this initiative, we are looking at building global-scale capabilities to support the Indian and international markets with the best quality products,” Gupta said.
The facility boasts comprehensive manufacturing capabilities, including scribing, shaping/chamfering, polishing, dual-stage rinsing, chemical tempering, coating, printing, and lamination. Each stage is conducted under stringent quality inspections, bringing standardised, high-quality tempered glass to Indian consumers for the first time in India, he said.
“Our aspiration is that every Indian mobile phone user must use a Make in India tempered glass with BIS certification and fog marking to protect their screen,” Gupta added.
