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In a bid to expand its presence in India, struggling HTC might purchase a plant in Chennai, India from Nokia if the phone maker puts it up for sale.

According to the Times of India, HTC is looking for a way to get its devices to Indian consumers as fast as possible, and the massive Chennai facility could do the trick.

For now, Nokia has not yet decided if it will actually sell the Chennai plant. The company declined to comment to PCMag. In a separate story, the Times said Nokia might make the Chennai factory a contract-manufacturing facility after the sale of its handset business to Microsoft.

Located in in South India, the facility is one of Nokia's largest in the world, according to the Times, which counted about 20,000 total employees. Its uncertain future has current workers worried about layoffs. They went on strike last year, and demanded that the Chennai plant be included in the Microsoft-Nokia deal, but tax issues could prevent that.

Originally scheduled to close at the end of the first quarter, the $7.2 billion deal was put on hold while the companies awaited approval from the "final markets" in Asia. At the time, Nokia stressed that tax proceedings in India "have no bearing on the timing of the closing or the material deal terms of the anticipated transaction." It is now scheduled to close on Friday.

HTC CFO Chialin Chang, meanwhile, told the paper that he is "happy to look into it" if the plant will service consumers better.

"India is a very crucial market for HTC," he told the Times. "We want to go deeper into tier 1 cities, expand beyond tier 1 cities."

HTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Just as the finishing touches are put on the Microsoft/Nokia acquisition deal, a recently leaked memo suggests that the handset maker will drop its Nokia Oyj title for the more Redmond-esque Microsoft Mobile Oy.

For more, see Microsoft's Nokia Deal: What it Means.