GM to raise headcount in Bangalore

US-based General Motors Corporation (GM) is planning to double the headcount at its Bangalore-based technical centre in two years. Currently, the centre has 400 employees, of which, 300 are engineers and 100 scientists.

GM will invest about $100 million in the centre over 2 to 3 years, said a source close to the company. "GM would be passing on projects substantially to Bangalore," the source said.

After the recent financial setback of the group's US operations, General Motors Corporation is engaged in restructuring, which entails passing on manufacturing and R&D to cost-competitive centres such as India.

The Bangalore centre caters to projects based on computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).

The R&D will focus on high-value R&D work to complement current research programmes and undertake new exploratory research projects.

The focus is on math-based tools, light-weight materials, robust manufacturing processes, automotive electronics and manufacturing enterprise & management science, embedded software, real time systems and futuristic technologies.

Globally, GM has got 14 technical centres. In Asia Pacific, the company has five technical centres, including India. However, India is the only one to cater to R&D and engineering at a single centre. The Bangalore technical centre was inaugurated in June 2003.

GM has tied up with Indian Institute of Technologys (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and companies such as TCS and Wipro to leverage their knowledge and skills for research work in automotive structural materials and manufacturing processes at the technical centre.

GM has sourced components of $120 million in 2005 and expects to scale it up to $1 billion by 2010.