Gorilla Glass Maker Corning Will Now Manufacture in India

PM Modi's Make in India program has received another boost as Corning, the manufacturer of "Gorilla Glass" used as the cover glass on most smartphones and the back panel of premium phones, will begin manufacturing in India. The company plans to initiate display glass finishing in India by 2024, with a capacity of 30 million pieces. Corning has established a joint venture with Optiemus called Bharat Innovative Glass (BIG) Technologies.

BIG Technologies will produce finished front and back cover glass for smartphones in a plant that will likely be located in Tamil Nadu or Telangana. This facility will not only meet the demand for smartphones sold in India but also export glass for devices sold abroad.

“We now have a full portfolio of cover glass offerings for every segment of the mobile device industry, from entry-level phones to premium. Today, Corning Gorilla Glass has been used on more than eight billion devices, and we continue to invest in next-gen products and new segments like augmented reality and foldable displays,” said John Bayne, Senior Vice President and General Manager - Mobile Consumer Electronics at Corning.

Corning plans to hire 500 people in the first phase and will expand its workforce as it expands its operations in India. The company revealed that so far, 100% of cover glass is imported to India for lamination with the display panel. This means that slowly, the country is transitioning from being a place where most devices are assembled to an ecosystem of end-to-end manufacturing.

“We are excited about the growth of smartphones in India. Additionally, the government's support for the Make in India program is very encouraging. Optiemus is the right partner for us as we aim to establish manufacturing here,” added Bayne.

John Bayne also met with Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. This development follows the announcement that Google's Pixel smartphones will be manufactured in India from 2024. Micron is also setting up a plant to assemble DRAM, and Foxconn is exploring the establishment of a semiconductor facility. Qualcomm has also expressed its commitment to supporting any fabs that emerge in India, enabling the production of its chips in the country.