Nokia, once an iconic mobile handset maker, is shutting down its India plant Saturday at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, a company spokesperson said on Friday.
Global software major Microsoft, which acquired the Finland-based Nokia's global devices and services business, including assets in India for $7.2 billion (Rs. 44,265 crores approximately) April 25, decided to suspend manufacturing handsets from its Chennai plant though it could not take possession of it due to legal battles over a tax notice from the Tamil Nadu government and the Supreme Court in March.
At the time of closing down the operations, about 1,100 employees were working in the plant, including 900 on the assembly lines.
Touted as Nokia's largest production facility outside Europe, the Chennai plant started rollout out initially low-end mobile handsets from January 2006 after it was unveiled by then prime minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen.
Once a dominant player in the burgeoning mobile phones segment across India, with over 80 percent market share, Nokia lost out to rivals like Samsung, Apple, Sony and Panasonic in the next-generation handsets, popularly known as smart-phones over the last couple of years.
Global software major Microsoft, which acquired the Finland-based Nokia's global devices and services business, including assets in India for $7.2 billion (Rs. 44,265 crores approximately) April 25, decided to suspend manufacturing handsets from its Chennai plant though it could not take possession of it due to legal battles over a tax notice from the Tamil Nadu government and the Supreme Court in March.
At the time of closing down the operations, about 1,100 employees were working in the plant, including 900 on the assembly lines.
Touted as Nokia's largest production facility outside Europe, the Chennai plant started rollout out initially low-end mobile handsets from January 2006 after it was unveiled by then prime minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen.
Once a dominant player in the burgeoning mobile phones segment across India, with over 80 percent market share, Nokia lost out to rivals like Samsung, Apple, Sony and Panasonic in the next-generation handsets, popularly known as smart-phones over the last couple of years.
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