PTI

New Delhi: Spice Mobile, the handset unit of BK Modi-controlled Spice group, has earmarked Rs100 crore for brand building this year to reach out to customers in metros and bigger towns of the country.

“We will spend Rs100 crore this year on building the brand in large cities and metros through marketing and communications”, Spice Mobile CEO Kunal Ahooja told PTI.

Not just brand building, the company is planning to launch a sub-$20 GSM handset to target the entry level users of mobile phones.

“The phone will be a GSM one to start with and this will be our entry-level handset for the masses,” he said. The entry level segment is already crowded with offerings from other mobile phone makers such as Motorola, Nokia and LG.

Spice’s move to increase visibility in the metros and other big cities in the country comes close on the heels of the company launching the first 3G made-in-India phones and launch of several high-end models.

The BK Modi controlled company, which is also the first company to launch dual mode handsets with both GSM and CDMA SIMs in the same phone, is targeting Rs1,000 crore turnover this year.

It is eyeing to sell four million standard handsets in the current fiscal and targets half a million 3G handsets sales over and above that, he said.