Power equipment maker, ABB India on Friday inaugurated its new production facility at Vadodara to manufacture digital technologies for electrical distribution products.

The newly-commissioned facility manufactures four variants/series of relaysto meet the growing demand for a wide range of digital substation products and digital solutions in India and worldwide. This becomes the second facility making relays for the ABB Group globally after one in Finland.

The portfolio includes products like relays, and the solutions range from centralised protection and control systems, distribution automation, to bus transfer systems and arc protection for the electrical distribution network. The products are deployed in the industries such as cement, steel, oil and gas, power distribution companies and renewable energy projects through OEMs.

The company intends to export about 20 per cent of the production from Vadodara facility. Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India stated that the company mulls setting up another facility dedicated for services, catering to the requirements of many product installations in Gujarat, so far serviced from the company's Bengaluru facility.

"India is projected to be among the top 3 energy consumers of the world by 2030 and currently is the fifth largest consumer. This exponential increase in demand followed by the mix of diversified and distributed energy sources has increased the requirement for quality power equipment manufacturing in India," said Sharma.

Vadodara facility expansion

Also, at Vadodara, ABB India will expand its traction motors production capacities for locomotives and metro rail projects. The plant will have an annual capacity of 1,500 motors per annum. Currently, ABB India's traction motors facility supplies to metros and Indian Railway locomotives.

Commenting on the post-Covid revival in businesses, Sharma stated that the overall demand has improved in the economy and orders have started flowing in. For ABB, government sector contributes about 15 per cent to the overall orders, while the company is more focused on industry/private sector.

Business verticals

ABB India has four business verticals, including electrification, motion, process automation and robotics & discrete automation, of which robotics & discrete automation even though with lowest contribution to the overall revenues, is the fastest growing division. Sharma sees potential in the division as India's robot installation is at merely six per 10,000 workers, as against 120 robots in developed markets of Europe etc.

"Besides the multinational companies (MNCs) we have observed a new trend where even domestic mid-sized companies are buying robots for manufacturing. This gives precision and efficiency," said Sharma.

The company sees robotics automation being picked up by sectors such as automotive, ancillaries, food and beverages, electrical or EVs and now with a potential in batteries manufacturers.

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