Thursday, August 11 2005 19:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Korean consumer electronics major LG Electronics plans to manufacture data storage products in India beginning next year, Head of its Indian subsidiary said today (Aug 11, 2005).

"We might start manufacturing data storage products such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and hard-disc drives in India next year", Managing Director of LG Electronics India Limited, K R Kim, told reporters in response to a question.

He said LGEIL has started manufacturing mobile phones in India, and is targetting at producing 1.5 million units in the calendar year 2006 -- 70 per cent of them for the Indian market and the remaining for exports.

Kim, also President, South West Asia, LGE, said the company is investing $50 million in India every year, with the funds mainly going into the manufacturing side.

LGEIL, which started operations in 1997, clocked a turnover of Rs 6,500 crore for the calendar year 2004, and is aiming at Rs 9,000 crore mark in the current year, company officials said.

LG Electronics today announced the commercial launch in India of 71-inch plasma TV, priced at Rs 30 lakh.

It also launched 15-inch wireless LCD TV (Rs 99,000) along with a new 42-inch plasma TV (Rs 2.25 lakh).

Kim said while the company anticipates personal computers and mobile phones to be the fastest growing segments from its portfolio of products, these high end display products are also expected to log 100 per cent growth, albeit on the back of low volumes.

The company said the 71-inch plasma display panel is the first of its kind seamless single module plasma screen to be launched in the Indian consumer electronics market.

The 15-inch wireless LCD TV, company officials said, has a wireless connectivity of up to 50 metres, and a battery life of two hours. The screen is wirelessly connected to a transmitter box housed within 50 metres of the TV, which sends waves to the portable screen, LGEIL said.