The Hindu Business Line : Bombardier has major plans on track for India — Mr A. Wennberg, Vice-President andChief Technical Officer, Bombardier

India's new thrust on development of transport infrastructure has been attracting global players. And now Bombardier, one of the world's leading manufacturers of transport solutions — from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment — appears to be shifting gears to sharpen its focus on the Indian market.

Bombardier is betting big on developing its base in India to support not only local projects but also to source from India to projects elsewhere. This was the impression one got from senior officials of the multi-billion dollar Canada-headquartered company at the recent three-day Euro-Rail Congress in Milan, Italy.

"Bombardier is today managing and building the largest total transit system projects in the world and is looking forward to exploring projects in India where its strong capacity could be of use," points out Mr A. Wennberg, Vice-President and Chief Technical Officer.

In an interview with Business Line, he dwelt at length on the company's strategy and investment proposals for the Indian market.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is Bombardier's strategy for the Indian market?

Bombardier has been developing its resource base in India for some years now, increasing technical competence and capacity to cater to the specific needs of operators as well as to have its local organisation participating in projects that Bombardier develops in other parts of the globe. Today, we have a site in India producing propulsion components and rail control solution systems, apart from two engineering pools, dedicated to software applications and other solutions for rail vehicles engineering.

One example has been the successful manufacturing process of the WAP5 and WAG9 locomotives, which we have started to build outside India and which are producible in India. Another of our significant project here is the new Traffic Management System for the Mumbai commuter rail system. We are now looking for repeating the process in other projects, not only in rail vehicles and rail control solutions but also in total transit systems.

The India strategy seems comparable to the one developed for China. Can you throw some light on the contours of your China strategy?

In China, we already have three joint ventures — manufacturing metros, high-speed trains and coaches, as well as propulsion systems. As is the intention in India, we are building up more and more engineering competence within these operations, again not only to support local projects but also to design new systems that could be utilised for our global needs.

The outcome of our partnership-type approach in the Chinese market has been very successful and we are leading in several key projects in that country, such as the supply of 40 high-speed trains and the new people-mover system to the Beijing airport — this will be the key transport system during the Olympic Games 2008. The key point here is that we are committed to the step-by-step transfer of engineering work related to products for the Chinese market and the complete technology to our Chinese joint venture.

Moreover, we can already see that many of these systems and components can be sourced at a much more competitive price in China than in Western Europe — so in a short while we will start to import those systems and integrate them into our high-speed EMUs in Europe.

Is your Indian manufacturing unit contributing to some of your global projects ?

Yes. Bombardier has a 40 per cent market share in this segment worldwide. In the past two years, we have been awarded some significant projects, such as the management of two out of the three London Underground systems and construction of the new Rapid Transit System in South Africa. Bombardier organisation in India is contributing to some global projects of this type and we are looking at similar projects to be built in India.

What specific projects is Bombardier pursuing in India?

Well, we do not like to reduce market perspective to individual projects. We will try and participate in all projects in which Bombardier technology proves to be an adequate solution. Certainly, we feel that mass transit systems as well as inter-city traffic systems play an extremely important role. The implementation of the Mumbai traffic management system enabled us to consolidate our manufacturing unit in Baroda.

Another area we have identified as a potential is the Total Transit Systems. We will explore the possibility of using our global-lead technology in this area. In fact, we have already started the process by introducing in our Hyderabad engineering centre the development of engineering for several Bombardier projects elsewhere, like the London Underground.

Bombardier is also looking at the proposed Hyderabad metro project...

Yes, we are looking at it seriously. In fact, we have tied up with Reliance Energy, which will handle power supply. This project, if it comes through, will mean a significant ramp up of our Indian operations.

How much investment has gone into the facility created by Bombardier in India?

Since the beginning of the transfer of technology process related to the WAP5 and WAG9 locomotives, Bombardier has invested some $80 million.

Is low cost the reason for Bombardier's decision to increase its presence in India?

Not at all. What we have found in India is a pool of highly educated professionals and good productivity. One of Bombardier's major engineering centres is located at Infotech in Hyderabad. Our centre employs about 200 engineers and the target is to increase it to 350 by the end of 2006.

What was the revenue for Bombardier Transportation worldwide?

In the fiscal year ended January 31, 2005, Bombardier Transportation generated revenues of $7.6 billion and brought in new orders worth $4.4 billion.

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