Bosch mulls development centre in Coimbatore

Robert Bosch India Limited (RBIL), a subsidiary of the Bosch Group of Germany, expects to open a development centre in Coimbatore.

Robert Bosch is the latest addition to the growing list of IT companies starting business in the city. IT majors like Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and Healthscribe have either announced or already started their operations here.

In a company's press statement, Walter Grote, managing director, RBIL, said the centre, which is expected to start operations from July 1 in a rented premises on the city's outskirts, would have an initial capacity of 125 associates. This would be ramped up to about 900 within a year.

The company, a global major in automotive, industrial and building technology and consumer goods, would be setting up its development centre in Coimbatore banking on the talent pool available here. The decision was also a part of its de-risking strategy, he added.

As a part of its 'risk mitigation strategy', the company has planned to have 6,000 employees by 2010 to deliver software and engineering and non-engineering services to the Bosch group. For this, the company needed a second location.

The Coimbatore centre is likely to focus on industrial automation as the city is a good base for industrial systems. It would also work on mechanical engineering and design, and the services sector, followed by software development.

Grote said that the Coimbatore centre was expected to contribute significantly to RBIL's turnover and its headcount was likely to touch 2,500 by 2010.

The statement further said that the Coimbatore centre would cater to Indian, Chinese and Brazilian markets.