Nokia gives up on its Chennai factory, decides to shut it down on November 1

After more than an year of disputes with government authorities in India, Nokia has finally decided to shut down its manufacturing unit in Chennai, which was excluded from the deal with Microsoft.

Nokia has finally decided to shut down its factory in Chennai after a long standing dispute with tax authorities in India.

Back in 2013, Nokia was accused of evading $545 million in tax, which was followed by raids and seizure of its manufacturing unit in Chennai. This factory in Chennai, which was one of the company's biggest in Asia with over 6000 employees, was excluded from the Microsoft deal due to ongoing court cases and investigations.

It has been revealed that Microsoft entered an agreement with Nokia to continue manufacturing of devices at the facility on a contractual basis. However, Microsoft has decided to terminate the agreement from November 1 which has led Nokia to take the decision of suspending operations in Chennai.

The deal with Microsoft, which resulted in the sale of Nokia's devices and services division, has prohibited the Finnish company to make its own phones till the end of 2015 and with the loss of its factory, it seems uncertain that another Nokia phone would be released any time soon.

Source: Economic Times via WinBeta