The studio will be located in Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley, and will be the first of a series of "satellite" design centres being established by Nokia, which plans to open the next in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The world's second-most populous nation is adding six million mobile-phone users every month, and the location of the studio testifies to the impact that India is having on the development of handsets, Nokia officials said.

"Design is not just about the look and feel of the handset but equally important is what it can do for people and how it fits into their lives," said Hannu Nieminen, head of innovations at Nokia Design.