Danish company Danfoss opens Rs 500-cr manufacturing facility in Chennai

Danfoss India, a major player in climate and energy space, inaugurated its new manufacturing, research and development (R&D) and administrative campus, built with an investment of Rs 500 crore, in Oragadam, Chennai, on November 5, 2014. The plant also includes a solar power plant which will generate 1 MW of electricity, sufficient to power 10 % of electricity requirements of the campus.
 
Danfoss India, a part of Danish company Danfoss Group, stated that it is taking forward the national appeal to ‘Make in India’, through its focus on local manufacturing and R&D in the new campus. As part of this strategy, the company is planning to make India a manufacturing cum export hub for its regional subsidiaries and source products from local suppliers, thereby creating ancillary jobs.
 
Niels Christiansen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Danfoss Global, said, “India being a high-growth market for us, we kick started our ‘Make in India’ initiative two years ago having assessed the tremendous potential for growth in the Indian manufacturing sector. We are pleased to commence our manufacturing at the right place and at the right time and believe this will enable Danfoss India operations to become the export hub for Asia-Pacific markets.”
 
The in-house 1 MW solar park is touted to help generate 1.5 million units per annum. Some of the key features of the campus include energy efficient structural glazing, re-use of construction waste generated, use of recycled material as much as possible, insulated roofs to minimise heat ingress, roofs with natural lighting and a courtyard inside the administrative building.
 
The new campus encompasses facilities for research and development, skill development, and product development along with customer application development center and testing labs with a focus on innovation for customised solutions.
 
“With the launch of the new campus, we are keen on revolutionising manufacturing in the country by empowering India to become a hub for energy efficient solutions. Our new campus will focus on refining R&D capabilities that will help us serve customers better. It will provide an impetus to customers as local manufacturing will make solutions more cost effective and ensure speedy delivery,” added Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India.
 
The product development centers and customer application development center will support developing improved energy efficiency applications in cold chain and infrastructure which can be customised to cater to different customers. A dedicated customer application development centre includes a psychrometric laboratory that will help in testing of Danfoss products to gauge its application prowess and thus aid informed decisions.
 
Danfoss foresees growth opportunities in the cooling sector in India and has identified skill gaps in the industry. Skill development programs of Danfoss such as the Danfoss Learning Center within the campus will help facilitate knowledge transfer about refrigeration and air-conditioning and commercial compressor products, applications and technologies and services to customers and industry stakeholders. With the Ammonia Training Unit which is an operational demonstration and training ammonia system the company will strive to improve awareness about ammonia and train in its application as a feasible low GWP refrigerant.