According to a new report, there won’t be any production of Nokia X at the infamous Chennai-based plant. Nokia has been ordered to pay a hefty sum of 21,000 crore rupees by the Indian government to get the factory back. The phone will now be manufactured in China instead, reports The Hindu.
It doesn’t come as a big surprise that Nokia is inclining towards its new Vietnam factory over Chennai, and rebalancing its distribution plans. Though China, not Vietnam will build the new Android handset. Given the constant hounding from Indian authorities, and not to forget the tax claims, producing the handset in the Chennai factory won’t be as feasible for Nokia anymore.
It all started last year when the Indian government froze Nokia India’s assets. While Nokia was soon given back all its assets, the Delhi High Court in its verdict sought additional charges. Soon after turning down Nokia’s appeal of overruling the Delhi High Court’s decision, on Friday, state authorities from Tamil Nadu ordered Nokia to pay up even more to get the factory back.
Yesterday, Nokia made it clear that the ongoing disputes aren’t going to affect its buyout deal with Microsoft. For a refresher, Nokia X is the Finnish giant’s first approach to the Android operating system. The handset has already been launched in many markets including India, and has already received a welcoming 4 million pre-orders in China where it is set to launch next week.