India Economic News
No. 03/11
Contents
Indian Economy Set To Grow
By 8.6 Per Cent In 2010-11 ... 1
Growth May Return To 9% In
2011-12 ...................................... 1
Direct Taxes Have Grown By
20% This Year: Finance
Minister ..................................... 2
India’s Domestic Market For
Information Technology
Set To Grow Three Times
Faster......................................... 2
Nasscom Pegs IT-BPO
Exports At $175 Bn By 2020 3
Mobile Data Traffic Set To
Grow Many Folds: Cisco ...... 4
Computer Market Grew 30%
In 2010 ....................................... 4
Food Processing Sector Gets
$ 127.5 Mln FDI ........................ 4
IEX Launches Trading In
Energy Certificates ................ 5
New India-Europe Undersea
Cable System Launched ....... 5
Aspirational Goods To Drive
FMCG Growth: Study............. 6
Essar To Buy Shell's Stanlow
Refinery For $350 Mn............. 7
Jubilant Foodworks Ties Up
With Dunkin Donuts ............... 7
Dassault Plans MRO Facility
In Hyderabad ........................... 8
Bosch Software Arm To
Invest $ 66.14 Mln In 2 Years 8
March, 2011
INDIAN ECONOMY SET TO GROW BY 8.6 PER
CENT IN 2010-11
The Indian economy is set to grow by 8.6 per cent in 2010-11, as
compared to 8 per cent in 2009-2010, according to data released
by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on February 7, 2011.
The farm sector growth is estimated to increase by 5.4 per cent in
the current fiscal year, as against the expansion of 0.4 per cent in
the previous fiscal year, on the back of robust monsoon rains.
The manufacturing sector is estimated to grow by 8.8 per cent
and overall services sector growth is seen at 9.6 per cent.
Per capita income in real terms (at 2004-05 prices) is predicted to
increase by 6.7 per cent to US$ 794.5 in 2010-11 compared to
the previous fiscal years US$ 744.4. At current prices, per capita
income is estimated at US$ 1203.3 in this fiscal, registering an
increase of 17.3 per cent from the previous fiscal years US$
1025.97.
GROWTH MAY RETURN TO 9% IN 2011-12
The Finance Ministry expects the Indian economy to return to the
nine per cent growth path from the next financial year on a
sustained basis. At the same time, it maintains that ongoing
political crises in West Asia, an uncertain global recovery and any
abnormal weather condition may spoil the exuberance.
An economic recovery will also enable the government to
continue with its fiscal consolidation process, as fiscal deficit
stands revised at 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP)
for the current financial year against the Budget estimates of 5.5
per cent, according to the Economic Survey for 2010-11. This
may enable the government to further prune fiscal deficit below
the target of 4.8 per cent in the next financial year, set by the
Thirteenth Finance Commission.
(continued on next page)
2
India News
The
Finance
Ministry
expects the Indian economy
to do better in the years to
come, as the rates of
investments and savings will
rise after the government
further pulls out of stimulus
gradually. However, it noted
that skilled training of the
workforce and the country’s
innovative capacity was of
much greater importance to
Indian growth at this point of
time than investment and
savings rates. (Business
Standard
February
26,
2011)
DIRECT TAXES HAVE GROWN BY 20% THIS YEAR: FINANCE MINISTER
Direct taxes have registered
a growth of 20% during the
current year so far with the
collections reaching nearly $
74.07 billion (till midFebruary).
Giving
this
information,
Finance
Minister,
Mr.
Pranab Mukherjee, said that
this sustained growth has
been possible due to
rationalization
of
tax
structure and improvement
in tax administration. He
was speaking at a function
at which he released a
commemorative coin in the
denomination of Rs 150 to
mark the completion of 150
years
of
Income
Tax
collections.
Releasing the coin, the
Finance Minister said that
Income Tax was introduced
for the first time in 1860
imposing duties on profits
arising
from
property,
professions, trades and
offices. It was passed by the
Legislative Council of India
and received the assent of
the governor-general on July
24, 1860. This Act was the
precursor to the modern
income tax
country.
law
in
the
Direct taxes are now the
major resource provider to
the
Centre
for
developmental work. The
Finance Minister said that
direct taxes collections have
grown at an average annual
rate of 24% in the last five
years and that direct taxes
share in GDP has also
increased from 4.1% to
6.1%.
(The
Times
of
India: February 26, 2011)
INDIA’S DOMESTIC MARKET FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SET TO GROW THREE TIMES FASTER
For India’s top technology
firms
focused
on
the
markets of US and Europe,
the country’s $15-billion-plus
domestic market for IT
services
is
the
latest
battleground. In a year when
top markets for software
exports are recovering and
expected to grow at less
than 5%, India’s domestic
market for IT is set to grow
three times faster, mainly on
the
back
of
higher
government spending on IT
and
new
outsourcing
projects from local banks.
“We will be looking at IT to
aid customer acquisition and
financial
inclusion.
The
attempt will be to take
banking to remote areas
using technology services,”
says Mr. Pushpinder Singh,
DGM-IT, Bank of India.
Indian
government
departments and public
sector units are going to
spend the most on IT this
year. The biggest driver for
higher government spending
on IT and related areas is
India’s UID project, which
according
to
CLSA
Research will lead to $10
billion worth of investments
in IT consulting, system
integration, and computer
hardware over the next five
to six years. CLSA sees a
$1-billion
business
opportunity for consultants
in the first five years and a
need to raise manpower by
15% for their services.
Some
18,000
systems
specialists
and
programmers will drive a
$2.4-billion
pie
for
integration of UID into
existing software systems.
“As this sets in, business
process
re-engineering
(BPR) activities should pick
up, as the full benefits of
UID for businesses become
clear. We expect 36,000
people to join the BPR wave
around UID, creating a $6billion market over the first
five
years,”
CLSA
researchers said in their
report last year.
(contd on next page)
India News
3
“Apart
from
UID,
IT
hardware growth will get a
fillip with $1.1 billion worth of
equipment sold to the
government and another
$1.8 billion of incremental
demand from the private
sector and governmentowned companies,” the
report adds. What’s critical
is that vendors like IBM,
TCS, Infosys and Wipro see
newer
opportunities
emerging even during a
global slowdown in software
spending because stateowned
enterprises
like
BSNL and ONGC — and
other ministries too — seek
to become more efficient.
Experts tracking this sector
say India Post, Indian
Railways and LIC will spend
$3 billion on information
technology this year, and
the government’s share of
total IT spend in India will
cross 10% over the next two
years from 6% right now.
Mr.
Praveen
Bhadada,
Manager Consulting, Zinnov
Management
Consulting
said: “In the 10th five-yearplan (2002- 2007) 0.3% was
spent on IT. In the 11th fiveyear-plan,
IT
spend
increased to 0.5 %. If we
extrapolate this, government
is going to spend about 2 %
on IT. If today, $1.5 billion is
spent annually, it could
easily go up to $ 7-8 billion
over the next three to five
years.”
For one, India’s department
of posts (DoP) is set to
spend up to $1 billion on its
IT-led business revamp over
the next five years with top
tech firms like IBM, TCS,
Infosys and Wipro pursuing
several
outsourcing
contracts for helping the
postal department automate
and integrate its business
processes with a standard
software solution. Accenture
is in the process of
developing a plan for this
revamp. (The Economic
Times: February 24, 2011)
NASSCOM PEGS IT-BPO EXPORTS AT $175 BN BY 2020
Having
touched
export
revenues of $59 billion last
year, the IT industry is
estimated to have grown by
19 per cent in this financial
year, aggregating revenues
worth $76 billion.
Indian
information
technology
(IT)
and
business
process
outsourcing (BPO) exports
were expected to grow
three-fold to $175 billion in
revenues by the end of this
decade, the country’s apex
software industry body said.
“The new mantra is to
innovate,
redesign
and
reinvent. We have an
opportunity of tapping $175
billion in export revenues by
2020. The only constraint to
tap this opportunity is not
the demand but our ability to
address it,” said, Nasscom
President Mr. Som Mittal.
The addressable market
size is expected to triple
from $500 billion to about
$1.6 trillion in 2020. But
most importantly, 80 per
cent of the incremental
growth will be driven by
opportunities outside the
current
core
markets,
verticals and customers.
Hence the theme of the
forum, named ‘Drivers of the
Decades’,
seems
appropriate as the industry
emerges from one of its
worst crises. The three-day
event will see discussions
on issues like demographic
shifts,
innovation
and
inclusion.
In spite of a few hurdles, the
biggest success for India
has been its growing
importance as a global
outsourcing
hub.
“We
always
talk
about
multinational
companies.
With
presence
in
52
countries, 200 cities, 400
delivery
centers,
10
companies
listed
on
overseas stock exchanges,
and 400 of the Fortune 500
firms being the customers,
Indian firms are certainly
multinational,”
said
Mr.
Mittal.
With India’s share in the
global
sourcing
market
touching 55 per cent in
2010, the success of its
business model is clearly
established. According to
research done by Everest
Group, an advisory firm on
global services, offshore
centric services provider like
TCS, Infosys, Wipro and
others managed to grow
their market share even
during the slowdown. These
players
increased
their
revenue by 20.8 per cent.
Whereas traditional global
services provider’s revenue
slipped by 1.2 per cent.
(Business
Standard: February
08,
2011)
4
India News
MOBILE DATA TRAFFIC SET TO GROW MANY FOLDS: CISCO
Mobile data traffic in India
will grow 114-fold to 338,911
terabytes by 2015, which is
equivalent to 85 million
DVDs each month, or 934
million text messages each
second, according to Cisco
VNI Global Mobile Data
Traffic Forecast. At present,
mobile data traffic is at
2,971
terabytes
—
equivalent to 1 million DVDs
a month, or 8 million text
messages each second.
There will be 1,067 million
mobile-connected devices
(devices other than phones
and modems) in 2015 which
is 0.8 per capita. The
number of smart phones in
use will grow four-fold
between 2010 and 2015,
reaching 101 million. Mobileconnected tablets will grow
to 9.9 million and mobileconnected laptops will reach
65 million.
Mr Suraj Shetty, VicePresident, worldwide service
provider marketing, Cisco
said,
“Consumers
and
business users continue to
demonstrate
a
healthy
demand for mobile data
services. The fact that global
mobile data traffic increased
2.6-fold from 2009 to 2010,
nearly tripling for the third
year in a row, confirms the
strength of the mobile
Internet. The seemingly
endless bevy of new mobile
devices, combined
with
greater mobile broadband
access, more content, and
applications of all types —
especially video — are the
key catalysts driving this
remarkable growth.” (The
Hindu
Business
Line: February 07, 2011)
COMPUTER MARKET GREW 30% IN 2010
India's personal computer
market grew 30% in 2010 —
the highest since 2007,
research firm IDC revealed.
Hewlett Packard emerged
the top company in India,
leading in both notebook
and desktop categories. HP
regained market leadership
after two quarters with a
17.3% market share, taking
the pole position from Dell
Inc that got 14.2% of the
market.
Taiwan’s Acer followed the
two with 11.5% market
share. Notebooks were the
hottest selling category with
sales growing by 49%
between
October
and
December 2010 compared
to the previous year. More
than 1million notebooks
were sold in the 2010 fourth
quarter. HP grabbed the
largest market share of
26.2% while Dell and Acer
secured second and third
places.
Nearly 250,000 personal
computers were shipped to
Indian consumers, pushing
up the overall sales by 26%.
IDC India’s lead PC analyst
Mr. Sumanta Mukherjee
noted sales in 2010 to be far
better than ‘dismal’ 2009.
“Consumers are the main
architects of this recovery,
supported
by
renewed
buying sentiments displayed
by the SMB and government
segments,” he said. He
warned that sales of Atom
processor-based
mini
notebooks
could
come
under increasing pressure,
as competitive offerings of
rivals
start
becoming
available in March 2011.
“Emergence
of
media
tablets will also impact this
category in the long run,” he
said.
Around
145,000
desktop PC units were sold
in the fourth quarter last
calendar year, a 14%
increase over 2009. HP held
the lead in desktop PC sales
with 10.86% of the market,
followed by HCL with
10.78% and Acer at the third
spot.
(The Economic
Times: February 17, 2011)
FOOD PROCESSING SECTOR GETS $ 127.5 MLN FDI
The food processing sector
attracted $ 127.5 mln of
foreign direct investment
(FDI) in the first eight
months of the fiscal year.
In the thick of the recent
food
inflation,
the
government
had
also
widened the scope of
service tax exemption to
include
foodgrains
and
pulses in addition to fruits,
vegetable, eggs and milk,
the Minister said. The
Centre is keen on projecting
FDI in the food processing
industries, where 100% FDI
is
already
allowed.
(contd on next page)
India News
5
Besides
attracting
FDI
through schemes like Mega
Food Park, the government
has also extended several
fiscal incentives during this
financial year to enhance
FDI in food processing
sector,
including
full
exemption from excise duty
for specified equipments to
preserve, store or transport
apiary, horticultural, dairy,
poultry, aquatic and marine
produce and meat and its
processing products.
Project imports status, with
concessional rate of basic
customs duty of 5%, has
been granted for the initial
setting up or substantial
expansion of a cold storage,
cold room (including farm
pre-coolers) for preservation
or storage or an industrial
unit for processing of
agricultural,
apiary,
horticultural, dairy, poultry,
aquatic and marine produce
and meat.
While truck refrigeration
units
manufacturing
refrigerated
vans/trucks
have been fully exempted
from basic customs duty,
exemption from service tax
has been provided to a host
of services. These include
‘erection, commission or
installation’ of mechanized
foodgrains
handling
equipment for setting up or
substantial expansion of
cold
storage
and
machinery/equipment
for
initial
setting
up
or
substantial expansion of
units for processing of
agricultural, dairy, poultry ,
aquatic, marine or meat
products.
(Economic
Times: February 23, 2011)
IEX LAUNCHES TRADING IN ENERGY CERTIFICATES
The
Indian
Energy
Exchange (IEX), country’s
leading electricity exchange,
launched
trading
in
renewable energy certificate
(REC) on 23rd February.
The company received total
buy bid of 125 non-solar
REC and 11 solar REC
received in the first trading
session worth Rs 200,000.
Five portfolios participated in
the first bid on the first day.
IEX conducts bid in REC on
every last Wednesday of the
month.
This is a milestone in the
history of renewable energy
in India. It will create new
opportunities for renewable
and co-generation power
plants
and
has
been
possible only because of the
Central
Electricity
Regulatory
Commission
(CERC)’s
prompt
and
positive response towards
the mechanism.
Various
other
statutory
bodies like National Load
Dispatch Centre (NLDC),
Forum of Regulators (FOR),
Ministry of Power (MoP) and
Ministry
of
New
and
Renewable Energy (MNRE)
have also come together to
provide a strong support for
the
mechanism.
RECs
represent the attributes of
electricity generated from
renewable energy sources.
(Business
Standard: February
24,
2011)
NEW INDIA-EUROPE UNDERSEA CABLE SYSTEM LAUNCHED
Bharti Airtel, in collaboration
with 16 other global telecom
companies, announced the
launch of Europe India
Gateway (EIG) cable system
that will enhance bandwidth
between Europe and India.
The 15,000-km cable has
received
investment
of
around $700 million and has
a capacity of 3.84 terabits
per second.
EIG stretches from Mumbai
to London, with landings en
route in the UAE, Oman,
Saudi
Arabia,
Djibouti,
Egypt, Libya, Monaco &
Marseilles, Gibraltar and
Portugal. Apart from the
segment of EIG in Egypt,
the remaining cable is now
available for commercial
use.
With the launch of EIG,
Bharti Airtel added a third
cable
to
its
existing
infrastructure
on
IndiaMiddle East-Europe route.
The deployment of EIG will
also boost the connectivity
requirements of the African
continent by complementing
the
largest
existing
submarine cable in Africa,
the EASSy cable, in which
Airtel
has
investments.
(contd on next page)
6
India News
Mr Ajay Chitkara, CEO –
Global
Data
Business,
Bharti Airtel, said: “It has
been our endeavor at Bharti
Airtel to create flexible and
robust
undersea
cable
infrastructure
for
our
customers. Both EIG and
IMEWE land in our landing
station in Mumbai. The extra
capacity
and
reliability
provided by EIG will help us
meet the surging bandwidth
requirements witnessed by
the Middle East and Africa.”
When fully activated with the
Egypt link, the EIG will be
the
first
direct
highbandwidth
optical
fibre
system from the UK to India.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd
is
also
part
of
the
consortium. (The Hindu
Business Line: February 24,
2011)
ASPIRATIONAL GOODS TO DRIVE FMCG GROWTH: STUDY
Aspirational products such
as chocolates, cold cream,
fragrances and breakfast
cereals will drive the future
of the consumer products
industry in India, says a new
study by The Nielsen
Company.
Product
innovation,
portfolio
expansion and aggressive
distribution across channels
and
geographies
have
helped
companies
popularize categories such
as impulse, health and
wellness,
lifestyle
and
convenience,
says
the
Nielsen study on fast
moving consumer goods.
These
segments
are
growing at an annual rate of
more than 20%. Companies
such as Marico, Parle,
Dabur and Emami are
betting
big
on
such
categories.
"These
segments are the next big
thing in the Indian FMCG
market, so much so macroeconomic conditions like
inflation are unlikely to
impact their growth if the
companies take the right
approach," says Dabur India
CEO Mr. Sunil Duggal.
Marico CEO (Consumer
Products)
Mr.
Saugata
Gupta observes that the
growth in economy and
higher spending power are
increasing the aspiration of
Indian consumers who are
much younger than before.
"With such a backdrop, the
FMCG industry too has to
change its nature fast," he
says.
Key impulse products such
as biscuits, chocolates, salty
snacks and confectionery,
which
are
essentially
unplanned purchases for
instant gratification, are
showing high double-digit
growth rates and rapid
increase in retail presence.
The Nielsen study says the
huge explosion in variants,
price points and pack sizes
of such products are acting
as catalyst. "Companies are
introducing newer attributes
like low fat, sugar free,
baked and whole grain to
entice and attract various
consumer segments by
creating greater relevance
and empathize with their
needs,"
The
Nielsen
Company Executive Director
Mr. Roosevelt D'Souza said.
At the same time, health &
wellness FMCG products
are
finding
greater
acceptance
among
the
affluent, urban and health
conscious
Indians.
The
study says that this portfolio
has evolved from being
preventive or supportive
nutrition and reflects a mix
of indulgence, invigoration
and narcissism. "Anti-ageing
products such as facial
creams, lipsticks, eye balms
and hair lotions are showing
significant
growth.
Expanding distribution and a
wave of consumer interest in
these sub-categories have
resulted in a surge in their
growth rates on a small
base," says Mr. D'Souza.
The study says that rural
and semi-urban consumers
are now graduating to
branded products, giving a
boost
to
the
lifestyle
category. "Urban aspirations
are entering into rural
households,"
says
Mr.
Gupta of Marico.
In the lifestyle segment,
while grocers continue to be
a
leading
distribution
channel, high-end products
are finding bigger presence
in modern retail. The shift to
lifestyle products has been
pervasive
across
geographies, which signals
a genuine shift in the
purchase
basket
and
lifestyles.
Convenience products such
as
breakfast
cereals,
noodles,
cordials
and
cheese
have
become
popular in the last decade
due to growing urbanization,
rise of nuclear families
where both partners work,
increasing
disposable
income and lack of time.
"Marketers have spent their
time
getting
these
products right to make them
available to the Indian
consumer
across
geographic zones and fine tuned to local tastes. This
process will continue as the
(contd on next page)
India News
market evolves," says Mr.
D'Souza.
Emami Director Mr. Aditya
Agarwal
feels
communication
strategies
7
will become more important
for FMCG companies as
they
focus
on
these
platforms.
"A
particular
product, such as biscuit, can
be convenience for one
section of consumer and
impulse for another. It's all
about appealing to the
evolving consumer needs,"
he says. (The Economic
Times: February 25, 2011)
ESSAR TO BUY SHELL'S STANLOW REFINERY FOR $350 MN
Essar Energy has agreed to
buy Shell's Stanlow refinery
in the UK for a total of $350
million for the assets, after
almost a year of talks, along
with an estimated $780
million for its stock of crude
and
products
after
completion of the sale.
The buy will increase
Essar's capacity by two
thirds, and make it India's
third largest oil refiner by
volume with a total capacity
of 58 mln tonnes in the long
term, including its refineries
in Vadinar, Kenya and
Stanlow, the company said.
Essar's Mr. Prashant Ruia
said, “This will truly make us
an Indian oil company with
global
assets
and
immediately give us a 15%
share of the UK market.
Stanlow is UK's secondlargest
refinery.
The
exclusivity agreement which
was signed gives both the
companies till March 31 to
finalize the deal, prior to
which Essar Energy will
seek approval from its
shareholders and conduct
consultations with Stanlow's
900-plus workforce.
The acquisition will be
funded from Essar Energy's
own resources, plus a
potential debt facility.
For the crude stock, Essar
Oil UK will set up a working
capital facility, the company
said.
In
a
separate
statement, Shell confirmed it
has received an offer from
Essar to buy its Stanlow
refinery and associated local
marketing business for a
total consideration of $1.3
billion. This includes the
estimated cost of the
inventory,
as
well
as
proceeds from the exclusive
five-year
crude
supply
contract we will sign with
Essar, a spokeswoman for
Shell said.
In addition to the asset sale,
Essar Oil UK and Shell have
agreed
to
enter
into
agreements where Essar
will buy crude and feedstock
exclusively from Shell for a
five year period at spot
prices for the Stanlow
refinery, and Shell will buy
refined products for its retail
and other businesses from
Stanlow for durations of up
to 10 years.
About half of Stanlow's
output will be picked up by
Shell. Among these, the
main agreement is for the
supply of diesel, petrol and
aviation fuel for a period of
five
years
following
completion. Essar has been
in talks with Shell for more
than two years to buy its
Stanlow refinery, as well as
two others in Germany.
Stanlow
is
a
quality,
complex refinery, the UK's
second-biggest, which can
produce the clean, 'green'
petrol and diesel now
required in UK and Europe,
with a current capacity of
220,000 barrels a day.
Essar intends to invest in
operational efficiencies to
increase production to its full
capacity of 296,000 barrels
a day. (The Economic
Times: February 21, 2011)
JUBILANT FOODWORKS TIES UP WITH DUNKIN DONUTS
Quick-service
restaurant
operator
Jubilant
FoodWorks Ltd that runs
pizza chain Dominio’s in
India, will open nearly 500
outlets of US- based coffeeand-snacks chain Dunkin
Donuts in the country in the
next 15 years. Jubilant and
Dunkin’
Brands
Inc.
announced signing of an
agreement that allows the
New Delhi-based firm to
open
Dunkin’
Donuts
branded franchisee stores in
India. Jubilant plans to roll
out its first Dunkin’ store in
India early next year and will
open about 30 stores in the
first
three
years
of
operations. “India is one of
the
fastest
growing
economies and the second
most populous country and
we
see
tremendous
opportunities for Dunkin’
Donuts here,” says Mr Nigel
Travis, the CEO of Dukin’
Brands.
(Live
Mint: February
25,
2011)
8
India News
DASSAULT PLANS MRO FACILITY IN HYDERABAD
Dassault Aviation, a part of
French aerospace company
Groupe Dassault, has drawn
up an ambitious map for
expansion in the Indian
market.
The
company,
which has a majority share
in the Indian business jet
market, is looking at setting
up a maintenance, repair
and overhaul (MRO) centre
next year. Its business jets
are sold under the ‘Falcon’
brand name.
“We have a 60% share in
the business jet market in
India (around 120 private
jets are in operation so far),
which is growing rapidly. We
now plan to set up an MRO
centre in Hyderabad for their
quality service and spares,”
said Mr. Thierry de Poncins,
International Sales Director,
Falcon Business Jets.
It was in talks with some
Indian companies to set up
an MRO facility jointly, he
said. Dassault Aviation is
owned 50.21 per cent by
Groupe Industriel Marcel
Dassault of France. He said
the company had delivered
30 Falcon jets in the last 15
years and would deliver
another 15 business jets in
the next two years. Almost
half of the new aircraft
orders are for the Dassault
Falcon 7X, the first business
jet certified with a fully-digital
flight control system. Also,
the company is in talks with
various charter operators for
another 20 business jets.
(Business Standard
14, 2011)
February
BOSCH SOFTWARE ARM TO INVEST $ 66.14 MLN IN 2 YEARS
Robert Bosch Engineering
and Business Solutions Ltd
(RBEI), a 100 per cent
owned IT subsidiary of
Robert Bosch GmbH of
Germany, a supplier of
technology and services to
automobile
OEMs,
announced an additional
investment of $ 66.14 mln
over next two years to
expand its global powertrain
electronics centre in India.
RBEI develops software for
in-house applications of
Bosch group for its global
operations.
The company will recruit
1,700 engineers in 2011 in
its development centres. Of
this, 400 engineers will be
recruited to its global
powertrain
electronics
centre,
Mr.
Vijay
Ratnaparkhe,
Managing
Director,
RBEI,
said.
Presently, the company has
7,500 employees spread
across
Bangalore
and
Coimbatore centres.
“RBEI, for the first time, will
share global responsibility
for powertrain electronics
development, together with
the diesel and gasoline
systems
—
electronic
control (DGS-EC) business
unit, within the automotive
division of the Bosch Group.
We are increasing our
workforce here to handle
additional responsibility for
new customers, markets
and projects,” he said. Mr.
Walter Grote, Senior Vice
President and Business Unit
Head, DGS-EC said the
global powertrain centre is
the first global centre
outside Germany. “Till now
RBEI has been an ‘extended
workbench’
for
global
customers in the BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India and
China) countries. It will see
a substantial growth and
investments in engineering
capability in the coming
years. It will recruit more
engineers in the powertrain
electronics domain over the
next two years,” he said.
RBEI is presently involved in
software
and
hardware
development of electronic
controllers
used
for
automotive
powertrain
electronics
management.
From
now
on
RBEI
engineers will also directly
liaise with customers across
the
world
for
their
requirements, with complete
responsibility of the entire
product
development
lifecycle
—
from
conceptualisation, to design
and
development
of
powertrain
electronic
hardware and software, to
validation, field support and
manufacturing ramp up, Mr.
Grote added.
In the last two years, RBEI
has invested in specialized
engineering facilities, the
electronic
control
unit,
reliability testing lab and the
electromagnetic
compatibility
and
electromagnetic interference
test facilities at Bangalore
and Coimbatore. (Business
Standard: February 17, 2011)
Edited by Mr. Ashok C. Kaushik, Marketing Officer, Embassy of India, Buitenrustweg 2, 2517
KD The Hague. Fax: 070-3462594; E-mail: markoff@bart.nl; Web: http://www.indianembassy.nl