The Hindu Business Line : Ingersoll Rand to invest $100 m in India over 3 years

Bangalore, Sept. 14 The $13-billion Ingersoll Rand plc has earmarked about $100 million investment in its Indian operations during the next three years and expects to source products and services of an equal amount.

“We want to double the size of the company in three years,” the Ingersoll Rand Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Herbert L. Henkel, told Business Line. He said the diversified industrial group wants to more than double its sales to about $500 million in three years in India.

He said Ingersoll Rand spent the last 100 years building roads and infrastructure and for the next 100 years wants to focus on making products concerning “safety, comfort and efficiency.”

The Indian operations of Ingersoll Rand employ about 1,600 people and have offices in 18 locations, which include two manufacturing plants. “We could add more people and more locations depending on how our business expands,” he said. Of the 1,600 employees, Ingersoll Rand has 450 engineers who work out of Chennai and Bangalore engineering centres.

These engineers work on product innovations for the global operations of the company. China is one of the company’s fastest growing markets, posting an annual growth of about 25 per cent. Its total sales last year were about $1.1 billion. “If you go to China today, India will be of that size in five years,” he said.

Mr Henkel said India would soon become a major manufacturing hub, which would necessitate better efficiencies.

“We have solutions that provide efficiencies at all levels, apart from huge savings,” he said.

Eyes UID project

The company’s security solutions for both individual homes as well as business establishments could lead to huge savings in electrical costs as well as ensure better security. The current size of the security solutions market in India is about $1 billion, Mr Henkel said.

The Ingersoll Rand International (India) President, Mr Venkatesh Valluri, said the company was in talks with the Government on providing security solutions for the unique identification number project, headed by former Infosys co-chairman, Mr Nandan Nilekani.

On Monday, Ingersoll Rand closed down 10.65 per cent at Rs 317.25 on the BSE.

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