The Hindu Business Line : Robert Bosch to make India hub for diesel distribution pumps

GERMAN auto parts maker Robert Bosch on Tuesday said India is increasingly seen as a low-cost, high-precision centre for the company and it plans to make the country the core location for making diesel distribution pumps worldwide.

The Chairman of the automotive group, Dr Bernd Bohr, told newspersons that the company will be able to save as much as 20 per cent of its total costs if it manufactures components in India. "I wouldn't see jobs moving out of Germany, but India offers more opportunities for us because it is a low-cost, high-precision centre," he said.

Bosch would consider making ABS (anti-lock braking systems) in India if there was a demand for more than 5,00,000 units locally. Dr Bohr said in another three years, the production of distribution pumps, which are being manufactured in the company's Jaipur unit, would be doubled to 2,00,000 units.

The common rail diesel injection (CRDi) systems made in India will also be exported to countries such as South Korea and Japan. Bosch has committed an investment of about Rs 550 crore towards making common rail systems over three years for the local as well as export markets.

It recently announced that it plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in its Indian arm, MICO, over a period of three years.

Increasing headcount: Dr Bohr said the company's software arm in India, Robert Bosch Technology Centre, will add about 1,400 more employees during the next two years. Currently, there are 1,800 software engineers working in the Indian facility.

Dr Bohr said in the first half of 2004, the company's global sales increased by 10 per cent, which is twice the demand for passenger cars. During the first half of the year, sales of commercial vehicles in India amounted to 43 per cent and in Brazil, it was about 26 per cent.

He said in the medium term, the company will continue to plan for a high share of distribution pumps, but by the end of the decade, the common rail system would have gained importance, largely because of its flexibility, which is important for the exhaust gas treatment. In distributor pump systems, total sales in 2003 was about 3,80,000; it was expected to grow up to 4,60,000, while in the common rail system, it was expected to grow from 5,80,000 in 2003 to 7,70,000 in 2004.

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