Toshiba to invest Rs 3,000 cr in India over five years

To hire 5,000 employees locally

Global electronics and energy giant $61 Billion Toshiba Corporation today announced it will invest over Rs 3,000 crore in India to ramp up capacities across business segments, including power equipment, energy efficiency and software development over the next five years.

The company also said it will hire 5,000 employees locally over the period including engineers and technicians to expand manufacturing facilities that will help develop India as an export hub for markets in South-East Asia, Middle-East and African countries.

“Toshiba will position India as a world business hub in its thermal power, energy transmission and distribution equipment and software development businesses,” Hisao Tanaka, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tokyo-headquartered company said. He added the company hopes to raise sales of Rs 18,000 crore from India by 2017.

Tanaka is on his maiden visit to India accompanied by the firm’s top executives. The delegation follows Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe’s visit last month when he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and promised $2 billion low-interest loans to India for development of metro train infrastructure and energy saving projects. Tanaka said his itinerary includes meetings with Indian ministers, bureaucrats, customers and potential partners.

“We started India business with selling a hydro power plants’ turbine and a generators in 1960s. In the next phase, starting 1980s we focused on colour TVs, computers and software. Now, India will play a big role in infrastructure business expansion including power generation,” Tanaka said. He added the company plans to ramp up its India turnover of $400 million to $3 billion in five years. Infrastructure business accounts for around a half of Toshiba’s global revenues and comprises power systems and healthcare (medical equipment).

Tanaka also said Toshiba is in talks with the Indian government for a business opportunity in the High Speed (HSD) Rail project. Indian Railways is currently conducting a feasibility study for running such trains on a pilot basis between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.    

In the power segment, Toshiba currently has a joint venture with India’s JSW Energy that is currently executing orders for supplying five supercritical power turbines and generators for NTPC Ltd from its factory in Chennai. The company has chalked out a roadmap for expanding thermal power business in India and abroad using Toshiba JSW Power Systems (TJPS)’s capacity, Executive Officer Yasuharu Igarashi said.