Bosch plans north India unit

Company to invest Rs 35-40 crore in the first phase

Bosch Power Tools Division is planning to set up a manufacturing unit in the northern India. The company has so far not finalised the state where it would be setting up the unit but it will be either Himachal Pradesh or Uttaranchal.

The company will invest Rs 35-40 crore in the first phase of setting up of the unit. The unit will help the company to manufacture motor line for power tools.

The company currently imports 150,000 such products from countries like Malaysia. Overall, it imports 350,000 units comprising 200,000 power tools and rest 150,000 units of motor line for power tools.

Talking to Business Standard, Navin Paul, Country Sales Director, Bosch Power Tools, said, "The decision to set up the unit would be finalised by the mid of 2006. The unit could either come up in Himachal Pradesh or Uttaranchal, as both the states are offering lot of incentives. It becomes economically viable to set up a unit here. Once finalised, the unit would be operation by the first quarter of 2007. There is a huge potential in the north due to rapid pace of the construction industry."

During the calender year 2005, the company witnessed a growth of 32 per cent over 2004 and in 2006, so far it has witnessed 42 per cent growth in the four months as compared to corresponding period in 2005. Out of the total market of Rs 450 crore of the power tool industry, the company has a market share of about 40 per cent.

The company is currently producing 150,000 power tools every year in Bangalore and plans to make 500,000 by 2008-09. However, it sells 350,000 units as rest of the units are imported from other countries. The manufacturing of motor line for power tools would help the company to make 500,000 units in India itself in the future and help in reducing costs.

He said that the company is very bullish on the emerging prospects of business in the north and have a series of initiatives up their arms to consolidate their sales position in the North.

"So far we were focussing on the southern and western parts of the country. We would also be opening about 10 more BOSCH System Specialist centres in the north out of the total 30 such centres that we plan to open across the country by the end of 2007 from the current 8 centres in India." Paul was present in the city to inaugurate the BOSCH System Specialist centre in Chandigarh by Hindustan Engineering Products.

He said that these centres would offer the entire range of company's power tools which are innovative and equipped with robust technology giving a desired precision, speed and reduced wastage resulting in increased profits.

He also said compared with other countries in the world, there is a minimal use of hand tools like drilling machines et al, whereas world over almost 50 per cent of the sales are for household use.

These tools known as Do It Yourself (DIY) tools have turned themselves into an integral part of homes with their ease of use and reliability.

"To enhance their household use, we are planning to hold summer camps which will include school children and housewives and they will be taught to make efficient use of these products. The camps will be organised in Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur and Lucknow in the north," he said.

He also said that the company has tied up with Canara Bank and Andhra Bank last year to provide loans to artisans, which will help them in procuring power tools ranging from cordless tools, wood metal working tools and will cater to the need of plumbers, electricians and other self employed artisans.

"Very few artisans in the interior of India have the infrastructure and financial support to earn a living from their skills. We would be rolling out BoschVaahan in July to the mofusill areas in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana which would create awareness about the use of the power tools and our tie up with Canara Bank would provide them on the spot loans. The amount of loan varies from Rs 1 lakh without any margin and Rs 3 lakh with 20 per cent margin at a flat rate of 6 per cent and three years of repayment without any guarantee or hypothecation. So far, we have disbursed Rs 6.5 crore of loans to over 3500 applicants and we plan to cover 1,000 artisans in the next three months here in the north," said Paul.