Bangalore, 3rd December, 2007
Business volumes in India expected to double by 2010
Additional 100 Million USD investment announced
Employee strength expected to touch 10000 by 2010
“India is among the fastest growing economies in the world today and a key focus area for ABB. It is an important part of our growth strategy and will play an integral role in strengthening ABB’s global footprint”, said Hubertus von Grünberg, Chairman ABB Group. “We presently employ over 6000 people in India and expect our human resource base to touch around 10000 by 2010 to support our growth plans” he added.
“We are extremely encouraged with the performance of our Indian operations and India will soon be among the top five markets for ABB. Based on market outlook and our well established presence here, we expect the business volumes for ABB in India to double by 2010. Having completed our previously announced investment programme of 100 MUSD, we now plan to invest an additional $100 million for capacity and range expansion over the next 2-3 years, to support this growth” said Fred Kindle, President & CEO ABB Group. “In addition to serving the needs of the Indian market , we are also determined to leverage India as a key resource base. Besides its pivotal role in the South Asia Pacific region, India is increasingly contributing to ABB’s global operations,” he added
Expansion plans on the anvil include a new greenfield facility at Neelamangala, near Bangalore for manufacturing Low Voltage products and Power Electronics. The company is also establishing new manufacturing units in Vadodara for Small Power Transformers and Distribution Automation products. Meanwhile, capacity and range expansion is underway across businesses and locations. ABB will double its production capacity for high voltage (HV) breakers , instrument transformers and HT (high tension) machines as well as expand the capacity of large power transformers to 17000 MVA as part of its expansion plans. ABB will also manufacture 765 kV equipment in India, to support the country’s power infrastructure needs.
ABB is also committed to leveraging India’s competitive advantage and rich pool of engineering talent to a greater extent. In addition to its existing global Operations and Engineering Center in Bangalore a second such Center has recently been established in Chennai to support Power Systems and Process Automation projects across the world. The company plans to double its headcount at these centers from the present strength of around 350 engineers.
ABB also plans to significantly increase the number of engineers and domain experts at its global R&D Center at Bangalore . This is now the biggest such Center in ABB’s global R&D network and is handling increasingly complex projects that are playing an integral part in the company’s ongoing quest to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs more than 110,000 people.