Mitsubishi Electric bets on Gujarat's growing Japan link

Globally, the company aims to have 50% revenues from out-of-Japan economies by 2020

Japanese firm Mitsubishi Electric's Indian subsidiary, which opened a factory automation center here today, is betting on Gujarat's growing Japan connect to drive its future business in the state.

This would be Mistubishi Electric India's fifth factory automation center, which will train and offer services to clients who have opted for Mitsubishi's automation equipment and solutions.

"We supply motors for the robotic arms in pharmaceuticals and automotive plants. Basically, we work with companies to increase plant automation and efficiency levels in an energy efficient manner," said Noriyuki Shimizu, deputy managing director, division manager, Factory Automation and Industrial Division of Mitsubishi Electric India.

He added that the company has a strong presence already in states like Maharashtra and Haryana, where it enjoys a 20 per cent market share in the factory automation segment. "In Gujarat, our market share is in single digits at the moment, however, we are hoping to take that up to 10 per cent over the next two years," Shimizu claimed. The company is primarily betting on rising number of manufacturing projects coming to Gujart, especially Japanese firms which are coming up at the Japanese investment region near Mandal.

Companies like Mitsubishi Aluminium, TS Tech have already decided to come up with manufacturing sites at Mandal, the site near Maruti Suzuki India's upcoming plant. Shimizu added that apart from Maruti Suzuki and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, many other Japanese companies (ancillaries) would come up in the region in the future.

Mitsubishi's factory automation business is clocking a 30-40 per cent growth rate over the years, and is one of the fastest growing segments for the company. This apart, it is present in areas like air-conditioners, locomotives, auto-components, elevators, inverters etc.  While Makoto Kitai, managing director, Mitsubishi Electric India Private Ltd, did not share the India revenues, he said that India is an important emerging market for the company.  "We are planning to raise the share of out-of-Japan economies in the group's overall turnover to 50 per cent by 2020. It is around 40 per cent at the moment. For that, we need to increase the revenues from the emerging economies and India is indeed an important market for us," he explained. Mitsubishi Electric's consolidated group turnover was around $39.3 billion in FY14. By 2020, the target is to touch $ 50 billion in consolidated revenues.