Siemens eyes up India's renewables

German engineering group Siemens is to invest $346m in India's renewables sector over the next three years.

In an interview with the Financial Times Peter Löscher, Siemens’ chief executive, said the firm will increase its Indian workforce by about 50 per cent to 25,000 people.

About a third of the new investment would be directed towards the development of wind turbine technology with an expected product launch by 2012, with some of the money going towards solar development also.

“We are taking advantage of the Indian growth opportunity and adding specifically tailored products. These are in addition to our high-end technology global portfolio,” Löscher said.

India already has 10,000MW of wind capacity and is considered to be one the fastest growing markets in the world. The government is currently considering adopting official renewables targets.

The administration also recently unveiled a plan to give out $5bn in subsidies to utilities every year for the next 20 years for solar power.

The company plans to put a turbine manufacturing plant near Tamil Nadu and Gujarat on India’s west coast, where it expects new wind farm developments to be built.

The initial focus would be on serving the domestic market, but India’s low engineering and labour costs could make it the base for a turbine export business at a later date, Löscher said.

Suzlon Energy, which commenced operations in south India in 1995 with just 20 people, now has a manufacturing capacity of 4200MW a year and about 10 per cent of the global wind turbine market.