India-based, Repair & Return Technology has announced that the company has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Taiwan-based, Sequel Technology to set up a unit for LCD display panel repair services and after market services (AMS) for electronics consumer and communications industry.

Under the agreement, Sequel would provide R&R India with the technology to repair LCD panels and in return it would pick up a 9.25 % stake in the company.

The JV will invest USD 2 million initially to handle the LCD monitor repair work and plans to expand the services to other products such as mobile phone screen, laptop and television screens using LCD panel, an official release said.

R. Jayakumar, Chairman of Repair & Return Technology (India) said, "We are positive that this JV will pave the way for Global high-end electronics manufacturers' to outsource repairs and services to India, soon.”

M.V.N. Prasad, General Manager, Repair and Return Technology said, “With this partnership, R&R will now bring value add to global brands which includes RMA generation, Defective Pickup, Problem Screening & Validation, Full scale repair, Service Parts inventory and distribution.”

The companies which manufacture abroad or plan to manufacture here and sell the same in India through their channel partners can now answer customer's need of after-sales service through R&R, Mr. Prasad added.

Repair and Return Technolgy, provides repairing services for electronics goods and IT hardware. The company is headquartered in Bangalore and operates a network of services across major business cities in India.

While, Sequel Technology provides high-end repair services for LCD (liquid crystal display) panels and PC monitors, mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs (personal digital assistant) and PCBs (printed circuit boards) manufactured by global electronics majors.

According to the sources, the new venture is expected to start its commercial operation from next financial year.