Bosch has announced the inauguration of its new facility for electrical drives at Oragadam, near Chennai. Built with an investment of Rs. 35 crores over 40,000 sq. metres, the plant with a built-up area of 9,000 sq. metres replaces the company’s rented facility at Guduvancherry.
The plant was officially inaugurated by Mr. Manfred Baden, Executive Vice President – Sales, Bosch Electrical Drives & Chairman, Bosch Electrical Drives India Pvt. Ltd., at a function presided over by Mr. Soumitra Bhattacharya, Joint Managing Director, Bosch Ltd., and Mr. Subramanya Ullal, Managing Director, Bosch Electrical Drives India Pvt. Ltd.
The move to set up its own facility in Tamil Nadu underlines Bosch’s commitment to the Indian automotive market. With the location in Chennai, the company has expanded its presence beyond its existing automotive component manufacturing sites in Bangalore, Nashik, Chakan and Jaipur, as it looks to support the Indian automotive customers with its innovative range of products in the electrical drives segment.
Focus on localised production
The facility in Chennai with its state-of-the-art equipment encompasses design, development and testing along with scalable production of actuation, thermal and wiper systems for the Indian automotive market. It currently has an installed capacity of 2.2 million window lift motors, 700,000 wiper system motors and 500,000 thermal system motors, which could be expanded when the need arises. The current workforce of 260 people is expected to touch 500 in the near future. Bosch is likely to make an additional investment of Rs. 25 crores in the facility in the coming years.
Sharing his views at the inauguration, Mr. Manfred Baden said: “We want to use our global expertise and experience to provide customized solutions for the Indian market and therefore consolidate our global market position. This new facility is not just a landmark for Bosch Electrical Drives India alone but a landmark for Bosch.”
Bosch operates on the principle of local for local by which it manufactures products locally for different markets.
Mr. Subramanya Ullal said: “The growing demand is encouraging, and we shall strive to cater to this demand with best-in-the-industry solutions.”
Bosch Electrical Drives India, established in 2008, is involved in the design, development and manufacture of window lift drives, engine cooling modules, blower modules, wiper linkages, arms and blades for various international and local automotive majors in the country. Till date, the company has sold over 10 million components to various international auto majors like Hyundai, Ford, General Motors, Mahindra, Renault, Nissan and VW.
Though the Indian automotive market is currently going through a rough patch, Bosch is focused on the long-term prospects. “We expect that the growth in the Indian automotive market will come back soon. India is a very important market for electrical drives for Bosch”, says Mr. Baden.
With the electrical drives market in India worth Rs. 800 crores, Bosch is keen on expanding its customer base to gain a major share of the growing market. It also plans to introduce products from its global portfolio, such as motors for seat actuators in India when the market demand grows.