Top handset makers resume limited operation in Noida-Greater Noida belt

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) A day after OPPO and Vivo confirmed to resume manufacturing at their Greater Noida factories from Friday, South Korean giant Samsung and another Chinese brand Realme also opened their facilities, allowing limited workforce to enter the gates and start floor operations with proper health measures in place to avoid COVID-19.

Samsung said it has received required permission from the state authorities to open its Noida Sector 81 factory.

According to reliable industry sources, it would still take some time for the company to fulfill the presence of only 30 per cent workforce requirement at Noida Sector 81-based factory as most of the workers have gone homes.

“The factory has started limited operations, which will be scaled up over a period of time. Employee safety and well-being remain our absolute priority. We have ensured that all hygiene and social distancing measures are maintained at the premises, as per government guidelines,” the company said in a statement.

Realme also confirmed it is resuming operations with 25 per cent of its production capacity, and looks forward to bring back close to 2,000 employees at its Greater Noida facility.

Madhav Sheth, Vice President, Realme and CEO, Realme India said the company has received required permission to reopen the factory in Greater Noida.

“As Realme believes in ensuring its employees’ utmost safety, the company will arrange transportation facilities to pick up all outstation employees and arrange accommodation. We will ensure employees to go through blood tests before they resume work at the factory,” said Sheth.

OPPO restarted manufacturing operations with 30 per cent workforce, with around 3,000 employees working in rotation out of more than 10,000-strong staff at its Kasna, Greater Noida-based facility.

Vivo also resumed production at its production facility with about 30 per cent of its workforce capacity.

With this, the Noida-Greater Noida smartphone manufacturing belt has begun to take baby steps, in order to bring the struggling mobile handset industry back on track that saw almost zero shipments in April.

–IANS

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