China's Vivo buys 169 acres land, to invest $559 million in India

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone maker Vivo on Thursday said it has acquired 169 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh and will spend 40 billion rupees ($559 million) to set up its second local plant in India.

The land is located near Vivo's existing 50-acre manufacturing facility.

"India is a key market for us ... and today we have reiterated our commitment by entering the next phase of growth in India," Nipun Marya, Director-Brand Strategy, Vivo India said in the statement.

Vivo entered India's highly competitive mobile handset market in 2014 and, according to tech researcher Counterpoint, is among the top three smartphone sellers in India.

India, the world's fastest growing major mobile phone market, a host of global smartphone giants including Samsung Electronics, Oppo and Xiaomi Corp are expanding rapidly in India.

A flagship scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the country a hub for smartphone manufacturing, like neighbouring China, has also helped the growth of mobile assembly in the South Asian nation and made it the world's second-biggest mobile phone maker.

($1 = 71.6060 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; editing by David Evans)