New lords of temple town Tirupati

Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is one of the most visited temple towns in India. But its identity is gradually changing — the new lords of the city are smartphone makers.

On Monday, Xiaomi, which vies with Samsung to be the largest smartphone maker in India, said one of its suppliers, Holitech Technology, will invest $200 million in India over three years to manufacture camera modules, thin film transistors and fingerprint sensors at Tirupati.

Xiaomi’s supplier is not alone at Tirupati; Indian mobile phone companies Micromax, Celkon, Karbonn and Lava are expected to set up manufacturing units there. They will be housed in a “mobile and electronics hub”, named after, who else, but Sri Venkateswara, the deity.

In fact, CM Chandrababu Naidu wants Tirupati to be the smartphone hub of India -— much like Shenzhen in China.

The neighbourhood Sri City, a planned industrial city around two hours drive from Tirupati, houses Foxconn, which makes phones for Xiaomi and Gionee.

Divine help or blessed by location?
The sudden rush of smartphone makers to Tirupati and its surroundings is more to do with geography than spirituality. Tirupati is well-connected to the ports of Chennai and Visakhapatnam, and also has an airport, making logistics an ease.