PANANJI, INDIA - Nokia plans to recruit 5,500 more employees in India by the end of the year, increasing employment to 15,000. Most of the new recruitments will be at the company’s Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu.

Nokia will reportedly also invest $75 million in the Sriperumudur plant this year, increasing investment in the plant to $285 million by December 2008. Mr Sachin Saxena, Operations Director at Nokia India said "Our decision to invest in local manufacturing has given us the opportunity to fuel the demand for the domestic and emerging markets while also allowing India to emerge as a global manufacturing hub."

Approximately 50% of its production at Sriperumbudur is sold within the country, while the remainder is exported to countries in Middle East and Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.