Damson Tech plans to move smart gadgets production to India, invest Rs 150 crore in first year

Lifestyle and mobile accessories maker Damson Technologies plans to move half of its manufacturing operations from China to India, with an initial investment of Rs 150 crore in the current fiscal year, a top official of the company said.

Electronics manufacturing service provider Damson Technologies, managing director, Ritesh Goenka told PTI that the company has been manufacturing devices in Beijing and now moving half of its production to India due to sanctions imposed by several countries on China coupled with benefits under government schemes in India.

"At present, we generate revenue of over Rs 1,000 crore. We plan to bring around Rs 500 crore worth of business to India in the upcoming year. Our long-term vision is to gradually move entire factory operations to India. We need some time to build the entire infrastructure in India," he said.

Damson also makes and sells mobile accessories and lifestyle gadgets under its own brand name "Just Corseca".

"There are a lot of sanctions that several countries have imposed on China. When we export from China to the US then there is 25 per cent duty and the same thing when we export from India, there is only 5 per cent duty," Goenka said.

The company is setting up a plant near Ahmedabad with an investment of Rs 50 crore in the manufacturing unit and another Rs 100 crore on marketing, research and development as well as building up a team of around 350 employees.

Goenka said that the company will initially move production of power strips, chargers, cables, power banks, TWS earbuds, and home audio systems but will continue to produce and ship smartwatches and smart glasses from China.

"If you see other factories in the segment they are importing parts and then assemble products in India. Our vision is to make even those parts in India . We will not shift smartwatches and other gadgets like smart glasses because it is hard to manufacture in India. It requires a lot of expertise, labours and engineers to work on smart devices," he said.

He said companies' products are largely dependent on bluetooth technology and the chipsets for the same are available from Chinese firms.

Goenka said that the company is getting support from the state government in form of a 7 per cent interest subsidy on bank loans for importing plant and machinery, a 20 per cent capital subsidy, and other benefits related to electricity, provident funds, and women empowerment initiatives.

"We anticipate conducting trial runs of the plant to complete by May 15, with full-scale production commencing on June 15. These timelines align with our commitment to ensuring high-quality standards.,

"The plant's capacity is set at 10 lakh pieces across all product categories. Initially, we aim to produce around 3 lakh pieces monthly in the first quarter. It will be about 10 lakh pieces in the first three months," he said.

The company plans to gradually scale-up production by 25-30 per cent based on demand and operational efficiencies of the factory.