Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is targeting a creation of 20,000 jobs in the next three years, founder Lei Jun said at The Economic Times Global Business Summit. This would almost triple the number of jobs Xiaomi has already created (i.e.7,500) in India. He also met Prime Minster Narendra Modi to discuss his commitment for generating more job opportunities in India.      

In an interview, Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi’s India journey has been “way beyond our wildest expectations”, resulting in Xiaomi being number one in the online mode, and occupying one-third of the online market share. While he acknowledged that supply and manufacturing are two of the biggest challenges for Xiaomi in India so far, he was optimistic about future growth prospects, and believed that the success in India will form the base of international expansion for them.

He also had a word of advice for the Indian companies: embrace the internet to gain a stronger foothold in the market. "Indian is welcoming the mobile internet era...This is the time for the companies to adopt the internet plus model to become disruptors in India. Whichever company will bring the best product at most affordable price will win," he said 

Xiaomi, which was founded seven years ago in Beijing, entered India in July 2014, and has made rapid inroads ever since. Last year, the company reported a revenue of $1 billion in India, and is aiming to double its revenue to $2 billion in 2017. 

As per a media report, Xiaomi recently announced its second manufacturing unit in collaboration with Foxconn in Andhra Pradesh. This plant has helped create employment for more than 5,000 people from over 100 surrounding villages. The report states that more than 90 per cent of the workforce employed in the plant are women.