Carl Zeiss to invest 250 mn euros for its largest 'vision' factory in India

The land for the facility was acquired in Bengaluru two years ago and its construction will start next month

Lens maker Carl Zeiss India will invest over 250 million euros in the country to build its largest "vision" factory in the world at Bengaluru, according to a report by Mint. The land for the facility was acquired two years ago, and its construction will start next month.

The construction is expected to be completed by October 2024.

Miguel Gonzalez Diaz, managing director of the Zeiss group, was quoted in the report as saying that once the facility is operational, the company will be able to manufacture 260,000 lenses every day. It will be six times its current production in the country.

The production will be ramped up between the end of 2024 and 2026. The unit will also produce metrology solutions.

The report added that the company is looking to hire more staff in both production and the research and development wings. Currently, the group spends 15 per cent of its current sales on R&D. In India, it currently employs 1,400 people. This is expected to go up to 2,000.

In the country, Carl Zeiss makes spectacle blank (unfinished lenses used in the production of eyeglasses) and prescription lenses. Three-fourths of the production is exported to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and the rest is used to meet domestic demand.

Diaz also said that India has the skills and capacity to produce not only for the domestic market but for foreign markets.

"I think India will play a very key role in the global strategy of many companies. For Zeiss, it is now one of the key areas that we have to invest in," he told Mint.