Hyderabad, June 15 (IANS): Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax will set up its manufacturing plant in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs.400 crore to Rs.500 crore, a Telangana government official said on Monday.

The unit will come up mobile manufacturing hub, proposed to be developed in Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) here.

State Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said that the hub will come up in EMC. "There is 1,000 acres of land available in EMC," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

The EMC is coming up in Maheswaram in Ranga Reddy district near Hyderabad. The government had originally allotted the land in 2008 for Fab City, a special economic zone for semiconductor companies, which did not take off.

The state government and Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the apex body of the mobile industry comprising manufacturers, brand owners, and application and solution providers, recently agreed to establish a first-of-its-kind mobile manufacturing hub. Representatives of various handset companies last week visited the site.

ICA national chairman Pankaj Mahindroo, Karbon mobiles chairman Sudhir Hasija and Celkon M.D. Y Guru had last week called on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The proposed hub is expected to generate 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh jobs. Karbon and other manufacturers have evinced interest in setting up their units.

Foxconn Group president Calvin Chin had also called on the chief minister here last week. A statement from the chief minister's office said Taiwanese iPhone maker was examining the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

According to Mahindroo, Telangana, despite being a late entrant, has lot of potential to start manufacturing activities.

He said he was impressed by the new industrial policy announced by the state government last week as it gave the investors right to clearance in a set time-limit.

Meanwhile, Celkon is all is set to launch its manufacturing facility in Medchal near Hyderabad.

Celkon's unit will begin with four production lines and will look to enhance capacity, the company said without specifying the investment for the plant.