Bosch to invest Rs1,700 crore more in India
Bengaluru, June 20: German auto component maker Bosch would invest Rs 1,700 crore in India over the next three years, a top company official said on Wednesday.
"To meet the rising demand in the Indian market and expand its strong role in our global network, we will invest Rs 1,700 crore over the next three years," Bosch Group Chairman and Chief Executive Volkmar Denner told reporters here.
A major part of the fresh investment will be used to expand the company's smart campus here and modernize its manufacturing facilities in the Indian sub-continent.
The 66-year-old Bosch has 18 manufacturing sites and 7 development and application centres across the country, with 31,000 employees, including 18,000 research and development (R&D) associates.
Besides three plants in Bengaluru, the company's other production sites are at Chakan near Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra, Jaipur and Chennai and other states in the country.
Of the group's consolidated revenue of Rs 19,204 crore, Rs 13,790 crore was generated by third parties, while its flagship company (Bosch Ltd) contributed Rs 10,842 crore in fiscal 2017-18.
"We will integrate our mobility services and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, as we are committed to address its transition to Bharat Stage (BS)-VI from April 2020 from BS-IV currently," said Denner.
Main contributors for the company's growth are the automotive industry, which holds opportunities for diesel technology, electro-mobility and connected mobility and government initiatives for connected manufacturing and connected cities
"With a projected 7.7 percent GDP-growth in fiscal 2018-19 and a similar level for the coming years, we expect the Indian economy to continue with momentum," said Denner.
As India aims to achieve BS-VI from April 2020 and adopt electro-mobility solutions built for local conditions, the company offers technology to support both initiatives.
"We believe the internal combustion engine will continue to be the mainstream solution for freight and commercial vehicles," noted Denner.
The company views co-existence of fossil fuel engines and electrification with hybridization as an interim solution.
"Hybrid technology will be a vital contributor towards the electrification goal in the country due to its stop-start driving patterns and road congestion. In light of that, fleet operators and smaller vehicles are poised to adopt electrification as soon as feasible options are available in the market," Denner said.
As India is one of Bosch's locations for AI, with two other at Sunnyvale in the US and Renningen in Germany, its AI centre in Bengaluru will play a key role as most of the products in the near future will be linked to AI, he added.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
