A task force under the Ministry of Communications and IT is under discussions with the Tamil Nadu Government to reviving Nokia’s mobile phone manufacturing facility near Chennai.

According to the task force, the manufacturing sector for mobile phones can provide employment to nearly 1.5 million people. Out of this, 10 per cent can be achieved in Tamil Nadu without any additional investment if the Nokia plant is revived.

Nokia’s facility at Sriperumbudur, Chennai has been shut since November 2014, owing to the company’s legal battles with the Income Tax department.  This had resulted in the plant being left out of Microsoft Corporation’s acquisition of Nokia Corporation in 2014.