Bosch plans to invest Rs 1,700 cr in India in next 3 ys

Pointing out that the transformation of Bosch into a leading IoT company is especially evident in India, Denner said "we have been investing heavily to drive this forward."

The Bosch Group today announced its plans to invest Rs 1,700 crore in the next three years in India, that continues to offer promising opportunities for its business and broad product range.

"Looking ahead, I am happy to announce that over the coming three years, we plan to invest an additional Rs 1,700 crore in India in total," Chairman of the board of management of the Bosch Group, Dr Volkmar Denner, told reporters here.

According to company officials, a major share of this amount would be used to expand Bosch's smart campus in Adugodi here and to modernise manufacturing facilities in the country. The Bosch Group said it sees strong signs of recovery in the Indian market and forecasts a positive development over the mid-term.

In 2017, the Bosch Group posted strong double-digit growth as sales went up 15.4 per cent to 2.2 billion Eurosin the Indian market. "The country continues to offer promising opportunities for our business and our broad product range," Denner said. Citing the latest global data, which said India has overtaken Germany to become the fourth largest automotive market in the world, he said automobile sales in Asia's third largest economy, including passenger and commercial vehicles, grew by 9.5 per cent last year.

"With such a promising future for the automotive market in India, we are confident about our continued growth here," he said, citing the company's sales growth in the country.

Pointing out that the transformation of Bosch into a leading IoT company is especially evident in India, Denner said "we have been investing heavily to drive this forward."

Citing revamping of Bosch's Adugodi location here from a manufacturing facility into a technology hub as an example, he said they had invested more than Rs 370 crore in the past three years to create this smart campus, home to 3,650 of its 18,000 engineers in India.

"Additional investments of Rs 600 crore are planned for the further expansion of Adugodi," he added. Officials said that in terms of new business, the company last year set up a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence center here. Its newly established ConnectedMobility Solutions division was active in India, where it was helping shape the mobility of the future.

Denner also said that with India leapfrogging from-IV to BS-VI emission norms, Bosch India, in collaboration with OEMs, was geared up to achieve BS-VI implementation from April 2020.

Stating that co-existence of combustion engines and electrification with hybridization is an interim solution on the road to an electric future, he said electrification in India is expected to gain momentum via fleet operators, for which the prerequisite is shared and connected mobility.

"In view of this, we believe it will take off muchmore rapidly in small-vehicle segments," he added.

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