Chinese vendor Huawei plans to invest another $2 billion (€1.5 billion) on its India business over the next five years.
The company will open a new R&D campus in Bangalore – already its largest research facility outside of China - and aims to grow its local manufacturing base, the Times of India reported.
Around 2,000 engineers are currently based at Huawei’s Indian R&D site, and the expansion will add another 1,000.
Huawei, which recently started manufacturing products in Chennai, will also expand its production operations in partnership with local manufacturers, and pursue technology co-operations with Indian IT service companies.
Executives from Huawei and rival ZTE are part of a 400-strong delegation that accompanied Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on a three-day visit to India this week.
The visit could benefit the equipment firms, which have endured a rocky relationship with India’s government during 2010 after it banned imports of Chinese telecoms gear.
Those restrictions were only lifted after the pair agreed to abide by new rules requiring all foreign vendors to share their source codes with intelligence agencies.
In another indication relations between India and China are improving, the China Development Bank yesterday revealed it will lend $1.9 billion to Reliance Communications - India’s second largest telco -, of which around $600 million will be used to buy equipment from Chinese vendors.