Bosch’s 100 million euro boost to smart manufacturing in India

In a major boost for the Make in India campaign, German auto engineering giant Bosch has unveiled plans to invest another 100 million euros (Rs 650 crore approximately) in the country a day after India and Germany signed MoUs to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

The visit to Bosch’s Bangalore operations by German Chancellor Angela Merkel with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a high point in the German leader’s October 4-6 visit. “Our commitment to developing talent and the competence of our local engineers are part of our success story in India,” said Peter Tyroller, member of the Bosch board of management responsible for Asia Pacific.

Stating that India is a key location in its global innovation network, the company announced its expansion plans in the country with a massive investment of 100 million euros in 2015. Promoting what it calls ‘smart manufacturing’ across its plants in India, the automotive giant said that ‘smart manufacturing’ would play an integral role in the company’s growth in India. Smart manufacturing refers to the use of industrial internet and Internet of Things to make manufacturing systems smarter.

This latest decision by Bosch to expand its operations in India with a huge investment is also a shot in the arm for the Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Ms Merkel had earlier announced that Germany would support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. With a leading automative engineering giant like Bosch expanding its manufacturing operations in India, it would set the precedent for the world’s top manufacturers to follow suit.

Mr Modi and Ms Merkel were earlier briefed on solutions developed by Bosch such as Industrie 4.0 and Big Data during their visit to their facility in Bangalore. Bosch has set up three new manufacturing plants in India in 2015.

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