Toshiba Invests $500 Million to Create Indian Global Hub

---

Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Toshiba (OTC:TOSBF) (Tokyo, Japan) plans to hire 5,000 Indian citizens, including engineers and technicians, during the next five years a part of a plan to expand its Indian manufacturing facilities and to help develop the country as an export hub for markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The global major, with annual revenues of $61 billion in electronics and energy, will invest about $500 million in India to expand capacities across business segments, including power equipment, energy efficiency and software development during the next five years.

The company is hoping to increase annual sales in India to more than $2.9 billion by 2017. "Toshiba will position India as a world business hub in its thermal power, energy transmission and distribution equipment, and software development businesses," said Hisao Tanaka, the president and chief executive officer of the company.

In January, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and promised $2 billion in low-interest loans for the development of metro train infrastructure and energy-saving projects. Last week, Tanaka visited India with his top executives and held meetings with government ministers, officials, customers and potential partners.

The company is in talks with the Indian government for a business opportunity in the high-speed rail project. Indian Railways is currently conducting a feasibility study for running trains on a pilot basis between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Toshiba already has a joint venture (JV) with JSW Energy (BSE:533148) (Mumbai) that is executing an order for the supply of five upper critical turbines and generators for National Thermal Power Company (BSE:532555) (NTPC) (New Delhi) from its factory in Chennai. The company has drafted a roadmap for expanding thermal-power business in India and abroad, using Toshiba JSW Power Systems (TJPS) capacity.

"We started the India business with selling hydro plants turbines and generator[s] in the 1960s," Tanaka said. "In the next phase, starting in the 1980s, we focused on color TVs, computers and software. Now, India will play a big role in infrastructure business expansion including power generation."

The company plans to expand Indian turnover from the current $400 million to $3 billion in five years. Infrastructure business accounts for about 50% of the company's global revenues, covering power systems and medical equipment.

For related information, see February 3, 2014, article - Toshiba Targets U.K. Nuclear Sector.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.