The Hindu Business Line : Siemens plans to take 50 pc stake in Flender

Stating this at a news conference held here on Tuesday, Mr Jurgen Schubert, Managing Director of Siemens Ltd, said the acquisition process was at an advanced stage and was expected to be concluded soon.

The new business of Flender would strengthen Siemens' automation and drives division and would expand its drive technology portfolio by adding gear systems.

Green signal to buy Elpro: Mr Schubert said the board of directors of Siemens India had also given the company the green signal to buy out the isolators and disconnectors business of Elpro, which has its manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

He said Siemens in India was open to the idea of strategic mergers and acquisitions as also in forging strategic partnerships.

Recently, on the occasion of its 50th year of manufacturing in India, Siemens announced the setting up of a green field steam turbine factory in Vododara, Gujarat, at an investment of Rs 30 crore.

According to him, with the boom in the infrastructure sector and increased spending in this sector, Siemens was hopeful of robust growth in the years ahead. "We are prepared to be part of the growth that is taking place in the infrastructure sector," he said.

Software biz: As part of its software business, Siemens was engaged in developing industrial software solutions for its clients. Its software business, which is based out of several locations across the country, currently engages around 3,500 people.

Mr Schubert said the company's Kolkata-based subsidiary, Siemens Public Communication Networks Pvt Ltd (SPCNL), has bid for telecom projects and further investment in the unit here would depend upon its success in bagging the tenders. SPCNL manufactures switching, optical networks and access networks and is a major infrastructure supplier to public and private telecom service providers, including those in the arena of basic, cellular and IP service.

The Siemens Group in India, which comprises 11 companies that together engage 12,000 personnel, notched a turnover of Rs 5,400 crore in 2005.