World's largest auto parts maker Bosch Group will invest Rs 2,500 crore and hire 7,000 more personnel in India.
The investment, which will be spread over three years, also includes a capex of Rs 1,200 crore for Bosch Ltd which makes common rail systems and other automotive parts in several of its factories across India.
Disclosing this to newspersons here on Thursday, Dr Bernd Bohr, Member, Board of Management, Robert Bosch GmbH, and Chairman of the automotive group, said: “We are in the 125th anniversary year and we continue to look at meeting the growing market demands in India with a planned investment of Rs 2,500 crore between 2011 and 2013.”
“The investment activities include manpower addition, capacity augmentation, business portfolio diversification and research and development,” he added.
Over the past decade, Bosch Group has increased its capital expenditure in India more than fivefold — from Rs 100 crore in 2001 to Rs 570 crore in 2010.
India Expansion
Much of the investment will go into expanding the company's local activities and services apart from building a a new electrical drives plant in Chennai.
The company has also initiated a project to provide software engineering support for electronic control units for all kinds of vehicles — be they diesel, petrol, hybrid or electric — from India.
“The project is to assume global responsibility for additional customers, markets, and projects in power-train ECU development. More than 800 engineers in Bangalore and Coimbatore will be recruited exclusively for this task,” said Dr Bohr.
Between 2001 and 2010, Bosch's headcount in India increased from 13,500 to around 21,500; at present, it is 22,500. In the first-five months of 2011, “we hired another 1,000 people. Many more university graduates and experienced professionals will follow over the rest of the year. By 2013, Bosch expects to employ some 28,000 in India,” said Dr Bohr.
Local market
According to Mr V. K. Viswanathan, Managing Director, Bosch Ltd, “Substantial portion of the Rs 1,300 crore will go towards up-gradation of plants at Bangalore, Naganathapura, Nashik and Jaipur. Investment will also be made in a greenfield project at Sanand, Gujarat, to produce hydraulic drives and controls, and in a packaging plant in Verna, Goa, to handle industries in agro-foods, concessionaries and pharmaceuticals.”
The company, after meeting Bharat Stage III norms with inline pump, is now making further efforts to upgrade these pumps for higher injection pressures and, thus, for the requirements of future emissions standards.