Bosch to invest Rs 600 cr in 2014

Bosch Limited, the Bangalore-based manufacturer of automotive components to original equipment makers (OEMs), has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 600 crore during 2014, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year. In 2013, the company had spent Rs 500 crore.The company will spend the amount towards the construction of its new manufacturing facility at Bidadi, about 35 kms from Bangalore and expansion of other facilities in the country, said Steffen Berns, Managing Director, Bosch Limited.

“India continues to play a key role for the Bosch Group. We are committed to expanding and strengthening our footprint here. Last September, we broke ground in Bidadi for a new manufacturing unit for diesel injection components. This year, we will be further augmenting our existing facility at Adugodi, which will be transformed into an R&D hub,” he said.The money will also be spent on expansion of Nashik plant, where the company manufactures common rail injectors. It plans to introduce new technology at this plant, he said.

During the year 2013, Bosch Limited derived 87 per cent of its turnover from automotive components business, while the remain-ing 13 percent came from the non-automotive products business. The share of non-automotive products business increased two per cent to 13 per cent in 2013.

“The non-automotive business grew by over 19 per cent,reflecting the company’s efforts in this business area. Power tools and packaging technology division registered double digit-growth for the year2013,” Berns said. The business of energy multiplied on a lower base.

As this business offers enormous growth potential in India, the company today announced the launch of a new business unit ‘Bosch Energy and Building Solutions India’ that will focus on end-to-end energy generation and efficiency, he added.

The company’s Start motors and generators business unit registe-red double-digit growth driven by the increase in domestic sales and exports of the new baseline gener-ators. Automotive aftermarket had a low growth owing to the slowd-own and tough market condit-ions, Berns said. Bosch’s exports earnings grew by 12.5 per cent to Rs 1,058 crore in 2013.