Bullish on India, GE Energy embraces localisation path

GE India had announced plans to invest about Rs 1,100 crore and set up new plant in Pune

GE Energy is aggressively localising products to suit needs of the Indian market, which is growing at a faster clip than many other developed nations, its India chief has said.

Acknowledging that there are "some uncertainties" in the economy, the company -- part of American conglomerate GE -- noted that it would like things to happen more quickly.

"We clearly see a potential in the Indian market. We see a lot of promise in this country ... Indian market is still growing and at a pace better than many other developed parts of the world," GE Energy's India Region President & CEO Banmali Agrawala told PTI in an interview.

In June, GE India had announced plans to invest about Rs 1,100 crore to set up a new manufacturing facility in Pune that would develop products for the energy sector.

According to Agrawala, being more local and localising the products and offerings, is the way forward for the company.

"We are aggressively pursuing the path of localisation," he emphasised.

When asked about the overall investment climate in the country, Agrawala said there is a certain slowdown in overall investments that are happening.

"Ultimately, unless and until the industry invests, we don't get the business. We are seeing some reluctance around.

"... We do recognise that there are some uncertainties. We will obviously, as an industry, would want to things to happen faster, more quickly," he stressed.

In response to a query on whether these issues are impacting the company's business, Agrawala said it delays things.

"Projects do not go away... But it creates a delay. So to that extent, yes it does create an impact. But advantage at GE is that we are a global company," he noted.

Agrawala also said the company is doing well in the wind energy space.

Among others, it makes switchgear and transformers.

In India, GE Energy is into Power and Water, Oil and Gas, and Energy Management businesses.

Recently, GE, which has over 15,000 employees in India, had unveiled plans to split its energy business into three separate companies as part of efforts to reduce costs.