Following the announcement by Anil Agarwal's Vedanta of plans to establish a $4 billion unit to manufacture display glass used in electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, televisions, and so on, local electronic contract manufacturer Optiemus formed a joint venture with US-based Corning International on Sept 1 to manufacture similar products. According to people familiar with the situation, the manufacturing unit will be located in Noida.

While Optiemus and Corning did not disclose the amount of investment, they claim to have a manufacturing facility in India by 2024, which would be a year ahead of Vedanta, which expects to begin production of display glass in 2025.

Vedanta will manufacture display glass at its upcoming unit in Gujarat, with its Japan-based subsidiary AvanStrate, which is the world’s fourth-largest glass company.

"We intend to emerge as one of the top manufacturers of finished cover glass parts for use in mobile consumer electronic devices in the next five years as we embark on this new journey." In a statement, Optiemus Infracom chairman Ashok Kumar Gupta said, "Our collective expertise in innovation, design, and manufacturing will provide holistic solutions for the brands."

The display screen glass and glass for the back panel are both finished cover glass parts. The finished parts will be sold to mobile consumer electronics manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or their designated supply chain participants for use in their operations by the joint venture.