US major General Electric said on Monday that it would invest $200 million towards setting up an infrastructure equipment facility.

Though the company was not forthcoming on the locations it was considering for the plant, it said that it would be recruiting over 3,000 people for this purpose this year.

“We will invest $50 million initially in building a manufacturing facility…It may create 3,000 jobs. At a later date, depending on how our business develops, the investment could reach $200 million. It will be multi-modal, multi-business facility. So, several GE businesses will share that location…,” the GE Chairman and CEO, Mr Jeffrey R Immelt, said at an Editor's Roundtable in the Capital.

The company plans to announce details of the project within the next quarter or 90 days and during July –September it hopes to start the construction work. The facility would initially be over 400,000 sq ft, with scope for expansion to 700,000 square feet.

The Chairman added that GE is also considering the option of manufacturing some of the products from its global product lines in the manufacturing facility in India. A decision on that is probably three to six months away, he said.

The expansion, said the Chairman, would also depend on the company being able to expand its locomotive business in India. “Expansion of the facility is contingent on a couple of things we are studying right now. One is the ability to make components and engine parts for the rail tender. So that decision is concurrent with what happens in the facility,” he said.

Mr Immelt said that the company's energy business would be the principal user of the facility, but it would be used for health and aviation as well.

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