Bosch Ltd to increase manufacturing in India - CFO

BOSCH

01/08/2023 16:36

By VarunVyas Hebbalalu and Aleef Jahan C S
       BENGALURU, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Bosch Ltd  BOSH.NS , the
Indian arm of German automotive supplier Robert Bosch GmbH, is
looking to boost manufacturing in India over the next two to
four years, the company's financial chief said on Tuesday.  
    The technology supplier plans to increase the percentage of
goods produced locally in India to bring down its imports of
components, which had led to an increase of 12% in spending on
traded goods last quarter.  
    "Currently, we have roughly 54% traded goods and 46%
manufactured goods," CFO Karin Gilges said in a press
conference, adding Bosch plans to change this ratio in favour of
the manufactured goods to align with country's "local for local,
in India" ambitions. 
    Bosch is expecting sales for fiscal 2024 to grow by nearly
15% as it expects to benefit from a rise in demand for pricier
vehicles in the country.
    The Indian market is seeing growing demand for more
expensive automobiles such as sport-utility vehicles (SUVs),
which accounted for more than half of the country's record 4
million passenger vehicle sales in fiscal year 2023, data showed
in April. 
    Bosch's process of bringing new technology to the Indian
market will initially involve finished goods, followed by the
localisation of individual components, Gilges added. 
    

 (Reporting by Varun Vyas and Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing
by Shweta Agarwal)
 ((varunvyas.hebbalalu@thomsonreuters.com;))