"We are concerned about the jobs at stake at the Chennai factory," Siilasmaa said after meeting Sharma. "We are not planning to cut jobs in Chennai factory but the question is whether we are allowed to transfer the factory to Microsoft."
"If we are not allowed to transfer, we will have a factory but no business. And if we don't have a business, we can't manufacture anything in the factory. And that would be detrimental to our employees and we care for them," he said.
Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's device business includes the Chennai plant, which makes mobile phones. As per the latest data, the factory employs about 8,000 people, 20 percent of them women, and about 30,000 sub-contractors.
The Income Tax Department had slapped a notice on Nokia's Indian subsidiary and froze its assets, including the Chennai factory, for violating withholding tax norms since 2006 while making royalty payments to the parent company.
While a court lifted the freeze on Nokia's assets, paving the way for their sale to Microsoft, the tax dispute remains unresolved.
