ABB India plans to add new facilities for EV chargers, robotics in industry 4.0
HYDERABAD: ABB India Ltd, the diversified energy products and solution and industrial automation major, is upbeat on India and has identified new area for focus over the next few quarters.
The company, which is part of the European major, is looking at emerging opportunities to work on electric vehicle charging ecosystem, robotics related to automation in industry 4.0, renewable energy sector, and railways in particular.
Sanjeev Sharma, Country Managing Director of ABB India, said, “With India making rapid strides towards the larger goal of power for all, we see ourselves playing a major role in this transformational journey. We have technology that can facilitate power generation all through to the power switch, and everything that goes into transmission and distribution system, including automation and management.”
“This wide bandwidth of products, services and solutions place us in a unique position to harness the next phase of growth. Towards this, we may have to set up to few new manufacturing facilities in the areas of electric vehicle chargers and related infrastructure, robotics needed for industrial automation and rapidly expanding railways sector, including upgradation and modernisation,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the company event hosted here to interact with its business partners, Sharma said: “Though no decision has yet been taken on where to locate the new projects, and the quantum of investments, it won’t be long before we would have to invest in these areas.”
The company, which employs about 12,000 people in India, directly and through its parent, operates across 39 product lines and is backed by 47 factories across nine locations.
On the electric vehicle chargers and infrastructure, the Country MD said, “The group had secured an order for 3,000 charging stations in the US and we expect similar opportunities to unfold in India with both the Centre and State governments providing a push to the EV segment. Some critical size is required to begin the facility.”
Referring to its manufacturing base for solar inverters located near Bengaluru, Sharma said: “The Global Feeder Factory set up in 2012 has been upgraded with its capacity getting doubled in 2016. With more than 40 per cent of solar projects in the region deploying ABB technology and having potential for growth, this would also have to be upgraded soon.”
Typically, the company, which closed last year with a turnover of Rs 9,200 crore, is investing about $ 100 million in capital expenditure annually. Indian businesses and facilities have become a global resource centre for ABB operations and already about 16 per cent of the total revenue and 20 per cent of orders are accounted by exports. This has potential to go up further, Sharma said.
Source: thehindubusinessline
