Huawei plans India expansion

The India unit of China’s Huawei Technologies will invest about US$2 billion over the next five years to set up a new research and development center and expand its local footprint, the Wall Street Journal reported. The R&D center will be based in Bangalore, where Huawei already operates a research facility with a staff of 2,000 engineers. The expansion will take the company’s headcount in Bangalore to 3,000. India is home to Huawei’s largest R&D hub outside China, and the company employs over 6,000 staff nationwide. Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers have made considerable headway in the Indian market, offering products and services for about one third of the prices usually quoted by global competitors. India is the second-largest market after China for wireless services with more than 670 million users. ZTE (00063.SZ, 0763.HK) is Huawei’s main domestic rival, with international competition coming from Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU.NYSE, ALU.Euronext).