US-based Gorilla Glass maker Corning will start production of protective glass for mobile phones in the second half of next year from its new manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu, India managing director Sudhir Pillai said.
The company will also start manufacturing glass tubes and vials for storing vaccines at another new plant to be built in Hyderabad, which will also start manufacturing next year, the top executive said in an exclusive interaction with Mint.
“The Tamil Nadu plant will have an initial capacity of 35 million pieces, which will cater to all local players, in addition to our global suppliers who are assembling in India,” Pillai said.
Read also | Apple supplier Corning Inc. to invest ₹1,000 crore in Tamil Nadu facilities
Production will be handled by Bharat Innovative Glass Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture (JV) formed earlier this year between Corning and Indian electronics manufacturing services provider Optiemus Infracom Ltd, with a total investment of ₹1,000 crore. The companies have started work and construction will be accelerated in the coming months.
The $13 billion Fortune 500 company is also preparing another plant in Hyderabad to produce glass vials used by the pharmaceutical industry. “India is slowly becoming the vaccine capital of the world and there is a huge need for tubes that are used to make ampoules and vials,” Pillai said. “We have already brought Velocity to India, which is a coating used in these tubes; now we will be making the tubes as well.”
Corning and France’s SGD Pharma signed a joint venture in 2023 for this unit. The initial investment in the plant will be $60 million.
Read more | Optiemus Infracom to manufacture screen protectors with Corning technology and brand
Corning is in talks with companies in the semiconductor industry to provide glass for lasers, steering systems and packaging, Pillai said.
“We enable this industry in a big way and the major lithography machine manufacturers are big customers for us,” Pillai said. “So we are excited about the evolution of the semiconductor industry in India. That’s why we are looking for partnerships in India again.”
The glassmaker is also keeping a close eye on the aerospace and defence industry, where investments are being made in localising manufacturing. Pillai said segments such as the aerospace and defence industry and drone manufacturing require high-purity fused silica, which is one of the glasses it produces.
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