Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi expands production footprint in India with local contract manufacturer Padget Electronics

Xiaomi’s new deal in India with Padget Electronics involves assembling smartphones and other electronics products

That new alliance shows how major handset brands are boosting their production in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market

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Xiaomi’s latest contract manufacturing partnership in India comes months after the company announced plans to expand its network of bricks-and-mortar stores across the country. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:00pm, 28 Sep 2023

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp has partnered with a large Indian consumer electronics company in a move that will increase production of its handsets and other devices in the South Asian country amid increased regulatory scrutiny by New Delhi.

Dixon Technologies said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday that it has entered into a partnership with Xiaomi through its subsidiary Padget Electronics, which involves assembling smartphones and other electronics products for the Chinese firm at its facility in Noida, a city in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The deal “represents a major milestone in the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative”, said Dixon vice-chairman Atul B Lall in a statement, which referred to the domestic manufacturing initiative of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The manufacturing alliance with Padget shows how Xiaomi, Apple and other major handset brands are boosting their production in India to meet growing demand in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market behind China.

Shoppers inspect smartphones made by Xiaomi at a Mi store in Gurgaon, a city in the northern Indian state of Haryana, on August 20, 2019. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Xiaomi initially set up local production in India in 2015 through electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group.

The Beijing-based company, however, played down the significance of that new contract manufacturing deal in India.