By IANS,
New Delhi : Siemens AG, global major in engineering, healthcare and electronics, will invest more than Rs.1,600 crore ($320 million) in India over the next three years, a top official said Tuesday.
About Rs.500 crore will be spent on building high-end technology for the wind turbine markets. The commercial production is expected to start in 2012.
“We are in the process of selecting a location for the manufacturing facility and have looked at Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. We will close on it in the next 2-3 weeks,” said Armin Bruck, managing director of Siemens Ltd, the Indian arm of the global firm.
With the economy showing revival signs and demand picking up, Siemens is optimistic for high volume growth. The company is planning to raise its employee strength from existing 17,000 to 25,000 by 2012 to cater to large projects.
“I estimate our hiring for the current year will be approximately 3,000 considering that growth will pick up this year compared to last,” added Bruck.
The company also plans to make India the hub for its value-priced products like lower priced X-ray machines. It will establish six new hubs in India targeting different sectors which will produce products for the domestic and international markets.
“Indian has the people, the products and the innovation power, and that’s why we’re expanding our presence here,” said Peter Loescher, president and chief executive of the parent company, Siemens AG.
The company also plans to tap into the nuclear energy market along with Russian firm Rosatom to bid for construction of nuclear plants.
“India’s need for additional power generation capacity provides opportunities for all types of energy resources, thermal, renewables or nuclear,” said Loescher.
Siemens is also actively seeking to participate in infrastructure development and Burck said the company was keen to participate in developing airports and sea ports.