Reliance Industries, Sanmina Corp form electronic manufacturing joint venture in India

Akash Ambani, director, Reliance Jio, said the group was delighted to work with Sanmina (which has 40 years of advanced manufacturing experience) to access the significant market opportunity for high-tech manufacturing in India.

“For both growth and security, it is essential for India to be more self-reliant in electronics manufacturing in telecom, information technology, data centres, Cloud, 5G, new energy, and other industries as we chart our path in the new digital economy. Through this partnership, we plan to boost innovation and talent in India, meeting both Indian and global demand,” Akash Ambani said.

Nasdaq-listed Sanmina provides end-to-end manufacturing solutions and supports original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) primarily in the communications networks, Cloud solutions, industrial, defence, medical, and automotive markets.

The JV’s day-to-day business will continue to be managed by Sanmina’s existing management team in Chennai, which “will be seamless from an employee and customer perspective”. Sanmina’s Chennai plant is among companies eligible for India’s production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom products and networks. Sanmina's Indian entity earned about Rs 12.3 billion in revenues in FY21.

The joint venture will prioritise high technology infrastructure hardware for growth markets, and across industries such as communications networking, medical and healthcare systems, industrial and cleantech, and defence and aerospace, the Mukesh Ambani-led oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate said in an exchange filing.

The joint venture will create a state-of-the-art “manufacturing technology centre of excellence” that will serve as an incubation centre to support product development and hardware startup ecosystem in India, as well as promote research and innovation of leading-edge technologies, according to the statement.

Initially, all manufacturing will take place at Sanmina’s 100-acre campus in Chennai. The site could be expanded to support growth and new manufacturing sites in India could be opened over time, based on business needs, according to the statement.

“We are excited to partner with Reliance to build the premier integrated manufacturing solutions company in India,” said Jure Sola, chairman and chief executive of Sanmina. “This joint venture will serve both domestic and export markets and represents a major milestone in the Indian government's ‘Make in India’ initiative.”