SINGAPORE -- Comparing India today to China of seven years ago, Sanmina-SCI Corp. will open its first plant in India within the next 12 months, Reuters reported today. CT Chua, senior vice president of South Asia Pacific Operations, said the EMS firm looks for 10% growth in sales in the region, to about $700 million in its next fiscal year, Reuters reported. 

"India today is like China in the late nineties," Chua reportedly said. "We want to have something big. To start, the (Indian) plant would be comparable with China. It would be scalable and we would expand the plant as and when needed."

Although competitors like Flextronics have publicly earmarked as much as $500 million for funding expansion in India, Sanmina-SCI did not reveal its investment schedule.

Chua said three sites in southern India are under consideration and a deal would be struck in the next three to four weeks. The new plant, likely on a greenfield site, would produce mostly printed circuit boards to support high demand growth in telecoms and consumer electronics, Reuters reported.

Sanmina-SCI is seeing strong demand for GPS systems and medical products like ultra-sound scanners, MRI equipment and CT scanners, the report said.

"Electronics demand for the full year is going to be strong. Our bookings are good. Quarter-on-quarter demand growth for the last four quarters has been 25%," Chua said.

In 2006, the company will add 100 workers to the 1,000 it already employs in Singapore.