Schneider Electric plans new products for Indian market

Looking to boost its India business, French major Schneider Electric plans to introduce new home automation products as well as expand geographical presence.

A specialist in energy management, Schneider Electric India recorded revenues of about Rs 4,500 crore apart from exporting products worth Rs 2,000 crore in 2010.

"We will be designing and developing new products for the Indian market, especially in the home automation segment. The company will also look at expanding the geographical presence," Schneider Electric Managing Director (India) Olivier Blum told PTI.

Making its eighth acquisition in India, Schneider Electric today announced it would purchase 74% stake in inverter maker Luminous Power Technologies for about Rs 1,400 crore. The deal would also provide the French entity access to more than 25,000 point of sales of Luminous.

According to Blum, the company would be focusing on products such as inverters and switch gears. "We are looking at innovations in inverters, where it can be linked to renewable energy sources," he noted.

As per estimates, the Indian inverter and power storage market, which growing over 20 per cent annually, is worth about 800 million euros.

With the Luminous deal, India would become the seventh largest market for Schneider globally.

"Our aim is to make India the fourth largest market for Schneider in the coming years," Blum said. India accounted for about 3.5 per cent of Schneider's total sales in 2010.

Currently, the top three markets for Schneider are the US, China and France.

Along with 3,000 employees of Luminous, Schneider Electric India would have a workforce of around 11,500 people. "We will continue to recruit talent," Blum said.