CHENNAI: Corning, the maker of Gorilla Glass, will invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up a cover glass manufacturing facility at Pillaipakkam near Kancheepuram District.
The company’s joint venture with India-based Optiemus Infracom Ltd will be known as Bharat Innovative Glass Technologies Private Limited (BIG TECH). The project is expected to create 840 jobs. Gorilla Glass is used in smartphones, tablets and laptops, including those manufactured by Apple, Samsung and Google.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project was exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin between Ashok Kumar Gupta, director of Bharat Innovative Glass Technologies Private Limited, and V Vishnu, MD and CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu.
The company plans to manufacture glass with extensive localisation and supply it to display panel makers and mobile manufacturers in India.
Corning International is a Fortune 500 company known for innovation in material science for glass manufacturing. The company invented Gorilla Glass which is known for its damage and scratch resistance, and is featured in over eight billion devices.
Optiemus Infracom Limited is a publicly listed Indian company with experience in manufacturing mobile phone components and laptops.
Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said that such prestigious projects are key to building a vibrant component ecosystem and will help in attaining Chief Minister MK Stalin’s ambition of a $1 trillion economy. “As Tamil Nadu records a remarkable $6.6 billion in electronics exports this financial year, with $1 billion achieved in December 2023 alone, the entry of Corning International reiterates the new era of exponential growth in the sector,” he said.