By Surender Bhutani
IANS
Warsaw : Videocon Industries, which had bought a TV tube and screen plant from the French group Thompson in 2005, is now poised to expand its presence in the European market from its base in Poland.
Videocon industries is willing to invest $7 billions to set up a liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in Poland and the management is slated to talk with Polish authorities "in the coming days", a senior company executive said.
The new plant can be up and running within two years and would employ around 3,000 people.
"We have to update our products as the technology is constantly changing and changing very fast. The buyer wants the latest model with a reasonable price," said Arvind Bali, vice president of Videocon Industries, told IANS.
"We are also in a process of investing further $ 1.7 billion to modernise our present venture at Piaseczno, on the outskirts of Warsaw. Soon we will have a workforce of 15,000 employees. Our aim is to expand our presence in the European market. Poland is now the very centre of the European Union, geographically speaking. The strategic location of Poland and a technically equipped work-force prompts us to expand our ventures.
"Our Polish venture has become a milestone in our international expansion drive," added Bali.
"If Videocon succeeds in its mission, it will be a big boost to Indo-Polish trade and business. Soon Videocon will become the largest Indian investor in Poland and this will increase India's profile not only in Poland but also in the European Union," said Anil Wadhwa, Indian ambassaor to Poland.
Earlier, speaking at the India Information Week here, Wadhwa said though trade between the two countries was growing by 20 percent annually, "still we are waiting for the magic figure of one billion dollar which we expect to achieve by 2008."
At present bilateral trade is around $670 million.