Robert Bosch to expand at Coimbatore SEZ

Taking a cue from IT majors Infosys and Wipro, who have stepped out of Bangalore for their expansion, Robert Bosch India Limited (RBIL), the 100 per cent subsidiary of Bosch Group GmbH of Germany, has lined up a large expansion programme in Tamil Nadu.

The company, which recently opened a small development centre in Coimbatore, plans to expand in the Coimbatore SEZ in a big way.

Said Walter Grote, managing director, RBIL, "As part of our 'risk mitigation' strategy, we have just commenced work at our second development centre in a rented building in Coimbatore. Now, we plan to construct our own building at the special economic zone (SEZ) in Coimbatore and are holding talks with Tamil Nadu for buying land at the SEZ."

Inadequate facilities and rising costs -- both manpower and infrastructure -- are the main reasons for the company stepping out of Bangalore for future expansion in India, he said. "In Bangalore, it has become a big challenge for any company to get its employees to come to work in the morning and we don't want to put our workers to hardships in this busy city," he said.

"The company will add 1,000 professionals every year over to touch 6,000 by 2010. Of this, we will have 2,500 engineers at our Coimbatore centre. Our expansion there depends on how soon we get the land," he said.

Grote, who has completed his term as the managing director of RBIL will return to Germany soon to take up a new assignment at Robert Bosch's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. He told Business Standard, that the company will make substantial investments at its Coimbatore centre next year.

"If we get the land in Coimbatore in the next few days, we will commence work on our own centre at the SEZ early next year," he said. Last year, RBIL invested Rs 42.50 crore and is investing Rs 50 crore this year. Next year too it aims to invest the same amount, he said.

The development centre in Bangalore of the Bosch Group, a global major in automotive, industrial and building technology and consumer goods, spread across four locations, presently engages 3,500 engineers.

"Coimbatore gives us a low cost advantage. The cost of infrastructure and manpower is comparatively lower than Bangalore and it also has a talent pool available," Grote said.

The Coimbatore development centre will focus on automotive and industrial engineering, especially software development, he added.

Bosch India is working on developing high-end technology, including diesel electronic control units for the Indian automotive industry, gasoline fuel injection technology and entertainment electronics such as car radios, for the Indian market.

"We will come out with India-specific electronic control units for the passenger car market in the near future," Grote said.