Bosch invests Rs 460 Cr in India in 2017-18 on new products, facilities

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Automotive technology leader Bosch Limited, a flagship of Bosch group of companies in India, has invested Rs 460 crore in 2017-18 while recording a positive growth in turnover. A majority of its revenue comes from the mobility solutions in India.

During the past 12 months, major investments were made towards the development of new products and at the company’s facilities in Bidadi industrial estate near Bangalore in Karnataka and Nashik. It may be noted that many of its manufacturing operations, which were traditionally carried out at its Adugodi plant in Bangalore, were moved to the new and spacious Bidadi plant.

On May 22, 2017, Bosch broke ground at Bidadi for the development of the second phase. Expected to be completed by mid of 2019, the second phase of Bidadi will have the capacity to accommodate around 2,500 associates. A powertrain plant, Bidadi will primarily manufacture new generation and conventional fuel injection products and components.

Addressing a media conference while announcing the annual financial results, Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Ltd, said, “India is a priority market for Bosch and the investment has been consistent. We will continue to make investments of similar nature in the current financial year.”

Battacharya was addressing the media persons along with Jan-Oliver Rohrl, Chief Technology Officer and Director, Bosch Ltd, who threw light on the company’s expertise in electromobility.

Bosch posted a total revenue from operations of Rs 11,690 crore in the past 12 months, registering 12% increase over the same period of the previous year. “Bosch Ltd’s domestic sales have been growing steadily as India’s automobile sector shows promising growth in the future,” said Bhattacharya.

Positive business development in 2017-18

Bosch Limited’s Mobility Solutions business sector grew by 15% in 2017-18 while domestic sales climbed by 14.8%, outperforming the domestic automotive market, which posted a growth of 10.8% in the same period. Export sales increased by 16.8 percent. Within the Mobility Solutions business, the Powertrain Solutions business division registered a strong double-digit growth of 19.4%.

Even though the divisions Building Technology, Packaging Technology as well as Thermotechnology, posted a double-digit growth respectively, the overall growth of business sectors beyond Mobility Solutions posted a marginal growth of 0.3%, offset by lower turnover in the Energy business due to volatility in the market post GST implementation.

The Mobility Solutions sector posted a growth of 23.1%. The strong performance by the divisions Power Tools, Building Technology as well as Energy and Building Solutions has helped the business beyond Mobility Solutions to grow by 22.4%.

Outlook 2018-19

Speaking about the outlook for the upcoming financial year,Bhattacharya commented: “The automotive industry in India accounts for 7.1% of the country’s gross domestic product. This is expected to increase in the future as well, as India gears up to achieve BS-VI implementation from April 2020 and adopt electromobility solutions built for Indian conditions. With such an optimistic market outlook, Bosch is confident of continuing its strong revenues in future.”

Looking beyond mobility, a major portion of Bosch’s activities focus on building effective solutions for a connected future. This includes using big data for energy compliant processes, deploying digital solutions to get power tools into the hands of more tradesmen and securing hubs of urban movement such as airports and metro stations with smart surveillance solutions, among other initiatives.

Bosch Group: Global strategy and business outlook for 2018

Bosch is targeting to further grow in 2018, despite the difficult economic conditions. The Bosch Group expects its revenue to increase by 2 to 3% in 2018. In the first three months, the sales revenue generated by the company matched the high level of the same period of the previous year. “Our company is unequalled when it comes to combining comprehensive connectivity expertise with broad industry and product know-how. This is the Bosch Group’s unique selling proposition,” said the Bosch CEO Dr. Volkmar Denner, speaking at the annual press conference in Renningen. Denner sees improving the quality of life and contributing to eco- and climate-friendliness at the top of Bosch’s agenda: “Our ‘Invented for life’ ethos is our motivation for developing the best possible technologies for environmental protection. We want to help keep people mobile, while improving air quality.” To make practically zero-emissions traffic reality, the company is making heavy investments – both in making electromobility a market success and in enhancing the combustion engine. Bosch has now achieved a breakthrough in diesel technology: with their new diesel technology, Bosch engineers have succeeded in getting NOx emissions down to one-tenth of the legally permitted limit. On average, test vehicles equipped with the enhanced technology already emit no more than 13 milligrams of NOx per kilometer, or far less than the 120 milligrams that will be permitted after 2020. “There’s a future for diesel. It will remain integral to tomorrow’s mobility solutions,” the Bosch CEO said.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Bosch registered 13.5% jump in sales in 2017 to 23.6 billion euros. Bosch now generates 30% of its total sales revenue in Asia Pacific compared to 28 percent in the previous year.