The Hindu Business Line : Bosch Group to invest more in common rail injection unit

BOSS AT THE WHEEL: Dr Bernd Bohr, Member, Board of Management and Chairman, Automotive Group, Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany posing with a Bosch simulator car in the Capital on Wednesday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Jan.11

THE Bosch Group is planning to invest additional funds to the tune of over Rs 1,000 crore during the next three years in four of its Indian subsidiaries.

The group, which includes companies such as Motor Industries Company (MICO), Robert Bosch India, Bosch Chassis Systems India and Bosch Rexroth India, is committing a large chunk of that investment into the setting up of facilities for the manufacture of common rail direct injection systems, a key component for new generation diesel engines.

The current announcement of additional investments is an extension of the company's plan to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in the Indian market announced in 2004. As a result, the total investments that the company would be making during the four years till 2008 will total up to Rs 1,800 crore. A major part of the investment will go towards the expansion of the company's automotive components business, particularly in diesel engine technology.

Of the total funds infusion, about Rs 550 crore will be invested in the large-scale series production of high-pressure common-rail systems.

Announcing the group's plans at the Auto Expo here, Dr Bernd Bohr, Chairman of the Automotive Group, Robert Bosch GmbH, said that other parts of the total investment would be utilised for capacity ramp up, routine capital and maintenance expenditure and developing new research and development infrastructure, across the group subsidiaries in the country.

The group had postponed investments into facilities for the manufacture of common rail injection components and had instead used the funds for buying back shares in the group's listed subsidiary - MICO. With the introduction of the Euro III- equivalent, Bharat Stage III norms and the increasing popularity of common rail injection diesel systems, the Bosch group is now putting in place plans for the manufacture of the components.

Bosch has already started production of injector components for the common rail system in MICO's Nasik plant by the end of last year. The manufacture of the complete injectors will follow in 2007, Dr Bohr said. In Bangalore, the first common rail high-pressure pumps will be produced in mid-2006.

The Bosch Group, which is one of the largest Indo-German groups, recently completed the acquisition of a 80 per cent equity stake in Kalyani Brakes. The subsidiary company, which has since been renamed Bosch Chassis Systems India, manufactures hydraulic brakes for passenger cars, two-wheelers, three wheelers and tractors.

The group reported exports of about Rs 400 crore for 2005 and going forward it is targeting an annual increase in exports to reach a level of about 20 per cent of the total group turnover in India. By 2008, the group's exports would have doubled and the components that would be exported to markets such as Korea, Japan, Europe and the Far East will include fuel injection parts, braking components and fuel pumps, Dr Bohr said.

Group sales of Bosch subsidiaries in India have quadrupled over the last decade and year-2005 sales stood at Rs 3,802 crore.