Bosch to invest Rs1,700 crore more in India

German auto component maker Bosch would invest Rs 1,700 crore in India over the next three years, a top company official said on Wednesday.

"To meet the rising demand in the Indian market and expand its strong role in our global network, we will invest Rs 1,700 crore over the next three years," Bosch Group Chairman and Chief Executive Volkmar Denner told reporters here.

A major part of the fresh investment will be used to expand the company's smart campus here and modernize its manufacturing facilities in the Indian sub-continent.

The 66-year-old Bosch has 18 manufacturing sites and 7 development and application centres across the country, with 31,000 employees, including 18,000 research and development (R&D) associates.

Besides three plants in Bengaluru, the company's other production sites are at Chakan near Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra, Jaipur and Chennai and other states in the country.

Of the group's consolidated revenue of Rs 19,204 crore, Rs 13,790 crore was generated by third parties, while its flagship company (Bosch Ltd) contributed Rs 10,842 crore in fiscal 2017-18.

"We will integrate our mobility services and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, as we are committed to address its transition to Bharat Stage (BS)-VI from April 2020 from BS-IV currently," said Denner.

Main contributors for the company's growth are the automotive industry, which holds opportunities for diesel technology, electro-mobility and connected mobility and government initiatives for connected manufacturing and connected cities

"With a projected 7.7 percent GDP-growth in fiscal 2018-19 and a similar level for the coming years, we expect the Indian economy to continue with momentum," said Denner.

As India aims to achieve BS-VI from April 2020 and adopt electro-mobility solutions built for local conditions, the company offers technology to support both initiatives.

"We believe the internal combustion engine will continue to be the mainstream solution for freight and commercial vehicles," noted Denner.

The company views co-existence of fossil fuel engines and electrification with hybridization as an interim solution.

"Hybrid technology will be a vital contributor towards the electrification goal in the country due to its stop-start driving patterns and road congestion. In light of that, fleet operators and smaller vehicles are poised to adopt electrification as soon as feasible options are available in the market," Denner said.

As India is one of Bosch's locations for AI, with two other at Sunnyvale in the US and Renningen in Germany, its AI centre in Bengaluru will play a key role as most of the products in the near future will be linked to AI, he added.

--IANS

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