Sunday, March 27 2005 14:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: LG Electronics India (P) Ltd (LGEIL), the Indian arm of South Korean chaebol LG Electronics Inc, is planning to infuse an additional Rs 5 billion and recruit another 3,000 hands by 2010 for increasing production facilities at its Ranjangaon facility, near Pune.

"We are planning to infuse around $ 250 million (around Rs 11.25 bn) in India in the next five years of which around Rs 500 crore will be at Ranjangaon," LGEIL Managing Director Kwang-Ro Kim said today (Mar 27, 2005).

The investment is to improve plant and equipment at the facility, which has commenced production of colour TVs (5 lakh per annum), air-conditioners (1 lakh), washing machines (2 lakh), microwave ovens (2 lakh), mobile handsets (10 lakh) and computer monitors (1 lakh), he said.

LGEIL had already invested around Rs 1.5 bn ($ 32 million) for the greenfield facility last year, when it was being launched, even though the commercial production of GSM handsets was commenced only on March 22, 2005.

This is the company's second unit in India, the first one being located at Greater Noida, near Delhi.

The company is also planning to recruit another 3,000 people by 2010 at the Ranjangaon unit, in addition to its existing 5,000 personnel, Kim said.

This is, apart from the earlier planned increase in R&D human capital to around 300 from the present 115, he said.