Chennai: Consumer electronics major Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd will shortly commission its Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai.

The $24-million plant has a capacity to make 1.5-million colour television sets and 1 million thin film transistor (TFT) monitors.

The $1.05-billion turnover company''s first plant in southern India is built on a 50-acre plot in the SIPCOT Sriperumbudur Industrial Park.

Addressing the media here on Monday, Ravinder Zutshi, managing director, Samsung India, said, "The total outlay for the project is $100 million and the remaining amount will be spent by the year 2010."

While the new plant will mainly cater to Samsung India''s domestic market, some portion of the production may also be exported at a later stage, Zutshi adds. Presently the company exports consumer durables like colour televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and monitors from its Noida plant.

The company has a target of $1.3-billion turnover this year and Zutshi says that performance till date is in line with the target with the company has been logging double-digit growth in all the major product segments.

Zutshi says that during the six-month period January-June 2007 the company''s market share was 22 per cent in the flat television category, 43 per cent in LCDs and 31.7 per cent in the plasma range. Samsung India ranks number one in the LCD and plasma segments and number two in the flat television market.

Recently the company had launched seven new models of flat and slim television sets.

In the frost-free refrigerator segment, Samsung India had a market share of 23 per cent of the total 74.7-million units sold in the country and 10.2 per cent out of 1.7 million direct-cool refrigerator units sold. Zutshi adds that the company''s market share during the first six months of the current year in the microwave oven segment is 19 per cent, in washing machines 16.2 per cent and in the air conditioner market 17 per cent.

The company is studying the market feasibility for importing the commercial air conditioners.

Sponsoring the World Cyber Games 2007, Samsung India has announced special rates on select liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor models that are most suitable for playing games.

The 17" and 19" LCD Myst model is being offered at Rs10,200 and Rs16,200 against a comparative price of Rs14,000 and Rs.21,000 respectively.

The 19" and 22" LCD Mendel models are priced at Rs16,500 and Rs.21,000 as against comparative prices of Rs.21,000 and Rs.27,000 respectively. The 19" Mobius is now offered at Rs21,000 as against Rs27,000.

However, Samsung India''s proposed special economic zone (SEZ) unit to be located in the Sriperumbudur Hi-Tech SEZ seems to be taking time to materialise. The company had earlier stated that the SEZ unit to be built on the 30-acre plot would make computer monitors, printers and other IT products.