Schneider Electric sets up 10th plant

Chennai / Hyderabad: Schneider Electric, the Euro 15.6-billion global energy management and automation company, is setting up its tenth plant in India at Hyderabad with an initial investment of Euro 5 million (close to Rs 28 crore), next month.

With over 50 per cent year-on-year growth in revenues being witnessed in India, the company will continue to invest and expand its manufacturing and R&D capabilities in the country, president and chief executive officer Jean-Pascal Tricoire said here.

The Hyderabad plant will have 95 per cent women as its shopfloor employees. It will manufacture 11 KV air circuit breakers and ring main units besides contacts and accessories.

Of this, 60 per cent will be for exports. These specific products will be produced exclusively by the Hyderabad plant, Tricoire said.

A 10,000-sq mt built-up space is being created for the facility, with the provision to add 7,000 sq mt floor space more for expansion, according to Roshanlal Kariholoo, president - Indian sub-continent, Schneider Electric India Private Limited. The plant will come up in a record time of 14 months, according to him.

Speaking in connection with the launch of the three-day Initi@tive India 2007, which will showcase technology-driven solutions to power and control problems, at Hyderabad, the CEO said though the company’s presence in China was three times more in terms of manpower compared with 5,500 employees in India, time was right to say that both the countries were part of its future growth plan strategy.

“Though we are a late entrant into this market, the company is hopeful of growing rapidly,” he said.