India-based handset vendor Lava International announced a new initiative dedicated to designing and manufacturing smartphones in the country, with the first model set to launch in October.

Named Design in India, the initiative forms part of a government plan to create 100 million jobs by 2022, with the company planning to design and manufacture a range of phones in the country by 2021.

Lava is taking the lead on the initiative after setting up a design centre in the city of Noida in 2016. In preparation for the project, Lava’s design and engineering team then spent more than a year being trained by the company’s Chinese team on industrial, mechanical, hardware and software design. Lava holds a large presence in China, with a team of 700 engineers.

Hari Om Rai, Lava’s chairman and MD, said the initiative “was one of the most significant milestones towards achieving our country’s vision of making India a global hub for mobile phone manufacturing”.

The first device released under the initiative will be the Prime X, set for launch in October. Priced at INR1,499 ($23.56), a major feature touted by the company is a standby battery life of 17 days, as well as a two-year warranty offer which “demonstrates the confidence Lava has in product quality”.

Also speaking at the launch, Ravi Prasad, minister of Law and Justice, and also Electronics and Information Technology said the government had set up 108 mobile manufacturing units in the last three years.