Motorola to increase its R&D investment in India

US based tech giants Motorola have said that they are planning to raise its R&D investment in India by 10-15 per cent year-on-year. These plans were revealed by the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Padmasree Warrior.

She said: “As we grow our market share, we want to localize our manufacturing and R&D. There are a lot of opportunities for talent as well as market in India.” Warrior was on an official visit to the country.

The company has already established six R&D centers in Bangalore and Hyderabad and has around 2800 engineers working for them. In addition, their investments in India have grown from $50 million in 2002 to $85 million in 2005.

In fact, a large portion of the mobile software on Motorola phones is developed right here in India! Considering Motorola is the world’s second largest mobile phone maker, this is no small feat.

Motorola added that they are also planning to raise its headcount in India to 4,000 from the current level of about 3,500 by the end of the year. The company is also going to soon launch their latest mobile PDA product named Motorola Q in India. It would take on the RIM’s Blackberry product provided by Airtel in the domestic market.