ABB plans $100-m investment

Bangalore: Power and automation technologies’ company ABB Ltd said today it will invest $100 million in three years in adding capacities as well as in range expansion in its Indian operations. It said that the business volume of the Indian operations is expected to be doubled by 2010.

The Swedish-Swiss company also said it will create 4,000 more jobs which will take the total number of employees in ABB India to 10,000 by 2010. “These initiatives in India will show you that we mean business. This (India) is a top priority country for ABB,” the ABB Group Chairman, Mr Hubertus von Grunberg, told a news conference.

Investment plans

“As soon as $100 million is spent, we could look at further investments,” he said.

The fresh investments come on the back of a similar sized investment announced in 2004 for a three-year period.

ABB will make fresh investments at a new greenfield plant in Nelmangala near Bangalore for manufacturing low voltage products and power electronics.

The company will also invest in setting up a new manufacturing unit in Vadodara for small power transformers and distribution automation products. ABB will also use the new investments in doubling the production capacity for high voltage breakers, instrument transformers and high tension machines.

The ABB Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Fred Kindle, said these steps will propel India to be among the top three locations in the world by 2010.

By 2010, the company’s workforce in India will exceed that of Sweden and Switzerland. The R&D workforce too will increase from the current level of 400 to at least 1,000 soon, he said.

“ABB wants to use India as a hub for sourcing, R&D, engineering to service other regions as well,” Mr Kindle said.

He said global electricity demand will double by 2030 which will be mainly driven by China and India. “… and India is a pillar of this growth,” Mr Kindle said.

The ABB Group executive committee member and Chairman of ABB India, Mr Ravi Uppal, said the previous investments have been successfully completed and the new funding shows a renewed commitment for Indian operations.

Nuclear biz

Mr Uppal said the nuclear deal with the US could in fact lead to more business for ABB. “It if comes along, it will be additional business for us because we supply the same kind of equipment for both nuclear power projects as well as for thermal projects,” he said.

The ABB India Managing Director, Mr Biplab Mazumdar, said the company would want more investment in India because of the rapid growth the region is witnessing.