NEW DELHI: Consumer electronics giant TCL Corporation will set up a television panel manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati with an investment of Rs 2,200 crore.The Chinese multinational is expected to offer as many as 8,000 new job opportunities with the commencement of world’s third-largest production plant spread across 158 acres in the Tirupati electronics manufacturing cluster.“Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, IT Minister Nara Lokesh together with TCL Chairman Li Dong Sheng will inaugurate the new manufacturing facility,” the statement from the state government said.Huizhou-based electronics company produces display panels for television sets as well as mobile phones and Mi-Fi devices.In December 2016, TCL acquired license for the BlackBerry brand, to manufacture, distribute, and design devices for the markets worldwide.The company is expected to start manufacturing operations in the new facility by December 2019.“With the advent of Microsoft , Hyderabad has become a software and knowledge hub. Today, with TCL, Tirupati is going to become hardware and electronics hub,” Naidu said.The Andhra Pradesh government aims to create state a new destination for the electronics design and manufacturing and attract new investments from multinationals.“TCL shall help Andhra Pradesh in capitalising the manufacturing potential of Andhra Pradesh by creating an excellent ecosystem at Tirupati,” the chief minister added.Currently, the state produces more than 30% of the mobile phones manufactured in India, and Foxconn alone employs nearly 15,000 women workforce in Andhra Pradesh.Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio is also setting up a unit in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 15, 000 core and aims to provide employment to 20,000 individuals in the state.The Mumbai-based company is planning to establish Jio Electronics Park spread across 150 acres in Tirupati and the foundation stone is expected to be laid soon.In February this year, Andhra Pradesh has received an investment commitment from companies worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore.