Philips looks to double turnover in 5 years

Headcount ramp-up at Bangalore R&D centre on the cards

Consumer electronics major Philips is planning to double the turnover of its Indian operations to ¤1 billion in five years and plans to invest over $150 million over the same period.

Philips India has outlined an expansion, which includes upgrading manufacturing facilities and ramping up operations at its research and development centre.

Philips has plans to set up a business process outsourcing unit in Chennai for managing its global financial and accounting operations.

Andreas Wente, president and chief executive officer, Philips Electronics, Asia Pacific said: "Asia Pacific today accounts for 25 per cent of the company's global turnover. We would like to raise it to about 33 per cent. India will play a major role in achieving this target."

The company is looking at setting up a shared services centre in Chennai. "The unit will be a global centre catering to Philips's global financial and accounting requirements," Wente said.

Philips has a similar unit at Kolkata, with around 70 employees, providing service only to Philips India. The Chennai centre will have around 150 employees in the first phase, Wente added.

Philips also planned to double the headcount of its R&D centre in Bangalore from 1,200 to over 2,500 over a period of time.

Meanwhile, the company is reviewing its strategy in its cell phone business in India.

"As of now we don't have a significant presence in the Indian cell phone market, but we are reviewing our position in terms of product portfolio, prices and will soon look at developing this segment also," Wente said.

The firm has lined up the launch of several new products in its medical systems division.

"Our medical services product portfolio had certain gaps. We are looking at a 20 per cent market share of Rs 1,200 crore industry in India," Wente added.