Toshiba eyes Rs 18,000 cr sales from India; to invest Rs 3K cr

Japanese firm Toshiba Corporation today said it is expecting 7-fold increase in sales to Rs 18,000 crore from India by 2017, pushed by the power and infrastructure segments.
The company will also invest over Rs 3,000 crore in India over the next five years, and double employee strength by 2017 to 8,000, Toshiba Corporation President Hisao Tanaka said at a press conference here.
Of the total Rs 18,000 crore expected sales, 70 per cent is likely to come from the infrastructure and power business, Tanaka said.
This is seven times the level of current sales, he added, without elaborating further.

Toshiba also announced a comprehensive plan for expanding its social infrastructure business in Asia and around the world that positions India as a strategic business hub.
Last month, the company had acquired Vijai Electricals Ltd's power transmission and distribution businesses. The acquired assets include power transformer, distribution transformers and switchgear businesses.

Tanaka said: "For Toshiba, India is important not only as a market, but also as a strategic export and development base with highly talented people. Toshiba will position India as a strategic world business hub in its thermal power, energy transmission and distribution equipment, water and waste-water treatment, and software development businesses."

The company may also explore the Indian renewable energy market in the future. "India is a very attractive market and we see a huge potential here. In the future, we would like to harness the opportunity in the Indian renewable energy market," he said.
To a query on the forthcoming general elections in India, he said: "Whichever government comes to power we at Toshiba will continue our association with India."
On whether the company fears competition from China, Tanaka said: "Not only China, the competition is from all over the world. Our equipments are much more reliable."
Responding to a query on its joint venture with JSW Energy, he said: "The JVs here can also look at establishing manufacturing facilities in other countries."

Betting big on Myanmar, Toshiba is studying the feasibility of business in the country. "We have started the feasibility, they need infrastructure for power generation and then other businesses can come up," Tanaka said.
Toshiba is also working at expanding its global footprint in the UK, Bulgaria, China, US and Middle East.