Mitsubishi Electric opens new plant

Mitsubishi Electric India, a subsidiary of the Yen 4.33-trillion ($35.23 billion) Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO), has the capacity to manufacture 34 traction motors per month at its new Bidadi facility, a top executive said on Friday.

Talking to Deccan Herald, Mitsubishi Electric India Head (Corporate Services and Strategic Planning) Rajeev Sharma said, “The third new facility which we launched in Bidadi on Friday will manufacture rolling stock equipment like traction motors, converter inverters, static inverter converters, etc. which are used in metros.

Initially, it will be mainly for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DRMC) RS-10 project, which is part of DMRC Phase III.”

Sharma said, “The capacity of 34 traction motors per month can be scaled up from April 2018 depending upon the supply or the requirement from DMRC.”

Mitsubishi has invested over Rs 52 crore in the new facility out of its paid-in capital of Rs 302 crore. The company intends to hire over 50 employees. This is Mitsubishi Electric’s third manufacturing facility in India. It has plants for automotive and factory automation products in Gurgaon and Pune respectively. Sharma said apart from Delhi Metro, the company has sold rolling stock to Jaipur, Mumbai, and Namma Bengaluru (over 150 coaches) metros, and will soon start supplying to Kolkata.

MELCO Executive Officer and Group President of Public Utility Systems Takahiro Kikuchi said, “The factory launch is part of a growth strategy under which Mitsubishi Electric aims to achieve transportation-systems annual revenues of $170 million from India by 2020.”

Kikuchi adds, “In India, we have a large  market share of 65 per cent in electrical equipment for rolling stock in the metro market.  This factory will accomplish ‘Make in India’ and contribute towards employment and the economy of this region.” As of today, of the 1,500 coaches of Delhi Metro, 1,100 have been supplied by Mitsubishi Electric India.

On order booking, Sharma said, “Right now, we have obligation of supplying rolling stock material for 120 coaches from Bidadi. The order size was 486 coaches, and the first 340 will be supplied by our parent company from Japan. Rest will be supplied from this factory by December 2017. For other projects, we are still negotiating or under a tender.”

He said the company may may supply about 20 per cent from the Bidadi facility and source the rest from Japan.

When asked about challenges, Sharma listed technology and pricing. “None of the metros across India have got standard technology...The project schedules keep getting delayed....Again, funding is a big challenge in India. It all depends on who is funding like Asian Bank, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), etc. If it is not related to Japan, we have problems in getting orders because the funding agency insists on supply from that country.”