It now seems that the #BanChineseProducts social media campaign that went viral in a big way has claimed its maiden victory with Chinese smartphone brands Oppo and Vivo expressing their willingness to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India initiative. Oppo and Vivo will be investing on building manufacturing plants in India. These manufacturing units will come in Uttar Pradesh, at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore.
Oppo and Vivo would set up manufacturing plants in Greater Noida, on spaces allotted by the government of Uttar Pradesh. Here, Oppo alone would invest Rs 2,000 crore both directly and indirectly. Oppo's plant is destined to come up on 200 acres of land; this includes customised employee accommodation, huge factories akin to the company's China model, Economic Times reported.
As far as Vivo is concerned, it would also be allotted 200 acres to build customized and huge manufacturing plants. These would be worth Rs 2,000 crore. Area for the company would be offered in Greater Noida as well.
At this juncture, it makes sense for both Oppo and Vivo to generate at least 1 lakh jobs with their new manufacturing plants. It is also be desirable that these jobs extend beyond the blue-collared sector and extend to the white-collared class.
The latest move, by Oppo and Vivo, follows that of Huawei that also set up a huge manufacturing plant in Chennai. Huawei had also expressed its desire to produce smartphones under the Make in India initiative of the Modi government.