Belden Inaugurates ₹100 Crore Customer Innovation Centre in India

Belden Inc., a leading global provider of network infrastructure and digitization solutions, has inaugurated its inaugural Customer Innovation Center (CIC) in Bengaluru, India, with a significant investment of ₹100 crore. The President and CEO, Ashish Chand, revealed the company's strategic emphasis on expanding manufacturing capacity during an interview on the sidelines of the launch. Belden currently operates manufacturing facilities in Chakan and Kochi.

This new Bengaluru facility represents Belden's fifth CIC globally, joining successful centers in Stuttgart, Germany; Santa Clara, California; Shanghai, China; and Chicago, Illinois. These innovation hubs cater to industrial and enterprise markets, providing network and data solutions for automation and smart infrastructure.

Ashish Chand outlined the center's focus on sectors like transportation, energy distribution, and petrochemicals over the next two to three years. As India's manufacturing landscape evolves, the center anticipates playing a significant role in the field of robotics. Currently employing 30-40 individuals, the center plans to expand its workforce to 150 within the next 18-24 months, aligning with substantial investments in manufacturing capacity improvement.

The company has a keen interest in India's transportation infrastructure, where intricate networks and data integration systems are crucial for managing evolving facilities. Chand stated, "In India, there is massive investment inflow in sectors including transportation, infrastructure—roads, railways, airports, and ports signals. These are a big focus area for us because the networks and the data integration systems that are needed to manage those facilities are very complex."

The newly established CIC serves as a central hub for co-innovation, fostering collaboration between customers, partners, and experts. It is dedicated to developing, testing, and validating industry-leading solutions tailored to address the unique challenges of today's digital world.

"Belden’s India business presently contributes around 3–4 per cent to the global business, with the country experiencing an impressive annual growth rate of over 30 per cent, surpassing the global average," noted the CEO. The primary growth drivers include large metro projects and the ongoing transition in the power distribution and management sector, focusing on upgrading telecom technology to IP or MPLS TP technology, and advancements in airports.

HBL