GE adds green 'Odyssey' to its India centre

Company’s investment in India R&D totals $175 mn.

At a time when most of the global companies are going slow on their expansion plans in India, GE, the American technology and services conglomerate, has expanded its research and development capabilities in India. The company has opened a new facility at the John F Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) in Bangalore, GE’s largest integrated multidisciplinary R&D centre outside of the US.

Spread over 3,85,000 sq. ft., the new building Odyssey which has bagged Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification, will house 2000 scientists and engineers. Officially opened on March 6, the green building fits in with GE’s ecomagination initiative, which represents the company’s commitment to solve the world’s toughest environmental challenges, the company said in a statement.

Dr Mark Little, senior vice president, GE Global Research said, “GE greatly values the well developed intellectual capital that India has to offer. The Odyssey building illustrates the increasing role our center in Bangalore has in GE’s global innovation strategy and for local technology development here in India.”

Since its inception in 2000, the JFWTC has grown from 200 scientists and engineers to close to 4,200 people now. GE has its other research centers located in New York, Shanghai (China) and Munich (Germany). With the opening of the new building, GE’s investment in the JFWTC has now totalled $175 million.

As part of GE’s ecomagination commitment, the company has set targets to reduce both its greenhouse gas emissions and water usage, and improve the energy efficiency of its own operations. GE has committed to reducing its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by one percent by 2012.

The company also has set a target of achieving a 20 per cent reduction in water use by 2012. When compared to a standard building, the Odyssey building will offer a 30 to 40 per cent reduction in operating costs, according to the company.

GE is doubling its investment in clean technologies from $700 million in 2005 to over $1.5 billion by 2010 as part of the company’s ecomagination initiative. The company said that the scientists working with JFWTC are playing a significant role in this campaign, supporting global research endeavours in wind and solar power, gas turbine technologies, locomotives and aircraft engines.