Korean consumer electronics major LG Electronics Inc today said it will invest US $ 25 million over the next three years in setting up a digital research and development centre to design, conceptualise and test India-specific products. This follows the parent company's decision to shift everything but high-end research away from Korea, to local subsidiaries, and the proposed centre is expected to be the third largest outside Korea, a senior company official said.
The R&D centre will rank as the third biggest after China and US. It will do moulding, designing, quality testing and standardisation for developing India-specific products. In the long run, it will serve as a hub for neighbouring markets, Vice president (sales and marketing) of LG Electronics India Ltd (LGEIL) Ajay Kapila told PTI at Seoul. He said once the centre became fully operational, it should halve the time taken now, between conceptualisation and production of a new product. The company would invest $ 25 million over the next three years into this facility.
It takes anywhere between 12-14 months to complete this process now. This should be reduced to between 6-7 months, Kapila said. Of this amount, $ 20 million will be pumped in within the next six months. The centre will have 60 people by the year end against 24 R&D professionals at present, making it the second largest after china in terms of manpower, he added.
Bureau Report