ABB bullish on India for its electric business, says Giampiero Frisio

The company expects data centres, semiconductors, and the solar industry in India to drive demand

Swiss-headquartered ABB expects India to become its third-largest market for its electrification division, said a senior executive from the engineering firm, adding that India and China may grow at the same pace.

 

Giampiero Frisio, President, Electrification Business Area, and Member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB said: “India is going to become our third-largest market (for electrification business) either this year or next,” he added.

 

ABB also looks to double its factory capacity at Nelamangala, close to Bengaluru with an investment of $20 million. Another $30 million is to be invested for a new power lab to enhance ABB’s research and development facility in Hyderabad.

   

At present, US and China are ABB’s top two markets for electrification. On whether India could overtake China in the coming years, Frisio added: “China and India will grow at the same pace.”

 

In addition to data centres, he listed India’s solar industry and chip manufacturing as future drivers of business growth for ABB’s electrification business in India.

 

Frisio expects electrification-related demand from data centres in India to grow in double-digits. On the anticipated disruption in the global demand for data centres with DeepSeek’s new model in the AI space, he added, “I think that it's too early to say what it's going to be. For the time being, what we can see is that the market will continue to grow.”

 

The senior executive expects India to also develop as a hub for ABB’s re-export to, “West Asia and some part of Asia, and some part of the African countries.” At present, these re-exports from India are about 10-15 per cent, Frisio added, catering to India’s own demand remains the focus. “After the pandemic, we are seeing that India is picking up in a very, very good way,” he added.

 

Frisio also remains unphased with the new presidency in the US, and the possible de-focus from energy transition. He said: “There is a lot of investment that was coming from the Inflation Reduction Act, done by the previous administration, that is still there. It was not cancelled. There will be more gas, and what we can do is to help the oil and gas industry to become leaner and cleaner. Eventually, from the electrification standpoint, there will also be a balancing from the gas economy companies.”