The Essar Group is reportedly keen to acquire Nokia?s mobile handset manufacturing plant near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The Essar Group is reportedly keen to acquire Nokia?s mobile handset manufacturing plant near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Manufacturing of mobile handsets has been suspended by Nokia at the factory owing to legal issues related to tax demand by the Indian government.
At present, Essar Group?s interest in telecom industry is limited to its presence in the mobile phone retail space through its retail chain store – The Mobile Store. Essar Group?s interest in the manufacturing facility comes at a time when the Prime Minister?s Office has written to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to take steps to revive the Nokia plant. Earlier, Tamil Nadu government too had approached the central government to lift the freeze on the manufacturing plant to pave the way for its sale.
India?s Income Tax (IT) department is claiming Rs 210 billion in taxes from Nokia along with another tax claim of Rs 15 billion has been issued by Tamil Nadu?s commercial tax department from the company for selling mobile handsets made at the factory within the county while availing of tax benefits meant for exports. Nokia has been disputing the claim and went on to suspend its operations at the plant on November 1, 2014, after Microsoft set the facility aside during its global acquisition of Nokia’s device and service business. The closure of the factory has resulted in loss of job for about 30,000 people, employed directly and indirectly by Nokia.
