The Hindu Business Line : Siemens to invest Rs 30 cr in Gujarat turbine plant

Mr J. Schubert, Managing Director, Siemens Ltd, and Mr E.J. Ferdinand, Vice-President, Power Generation Industrial Applications, at a press conference in Mumbai on Friday. - Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Feb. 3

SIEMENS Ltd on Friday announced that it would invest Rs 30 crore to set up an industrial steam turbine factory at Vadodara in Gujarat. The unit would be on stream by December. The cited investment covers only the first phase of the project.

At a press briefing, Mr J. Schubert, Managing Director, said there would be a second phase of expansion but declined to reveal both the additional investment and production capacity.

The new plant would be the company's 15th manufacturing facility in India; its official announcement coincides with Siemens entering its 50th year of manufacturing here.

The proposed factory would manufacture single-stage and multi-stage steam turbines for industrial applications. It would produce locally all required components for turbines up to 45 MW and make some of the key components for turbines up to 150 MW. It would also supply turbine components to Siemens manufacturing facilities in Europe.

According to Mr E.J. Ferdinand, Vice-President (Power Generation - Industrial Applications), the plant hoped to do an average of Rs 500 crore of business per annum over the next 2-3 years. An estimated 80-90 per cent of turbines made would likely go for captive power generation use. The total market for this category of turbines was portrayed as 2,000-3,000 MW strong.

"There are huge prospects for the industrial turbines business in India," Mr Schubert said, pointing alongside to the severe power shortage felt in parts of the country. For small turbines of up to 8 MW, India would be the only source within the global production map of Siemens, he said.

Board appointments: In a separate announcement, the company has informed BSE that Mr Keki Dadiseth and Mr Pradip V. Nayak have been appointed as non-executive directors on its board. Mr K.R. Upili has been appointed as a whole-time director.

Shares of Siemens moved up Rs 40.30 or 0.92 per cent to Rs 4,431.5 on the BSE on Friday.