Mitsubishi Electric has announced the opening a new manufacturing hub for advanced factory automation (FA) systems in Maharashtra, India.
The ₹2.2bn (£21m) facility has been set up to manufacture inverters and other FA solutions to help the company meet increasing demand for these systems across Indian industries, including automotive, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, data centres and more.
Mitsubishi Electric has operated an arm in India for the manufacture of FA solutions since the 1990s, and has since developed its foothold in the region through acquisition of a local FA maker in 2012.
What’s more, it has also established a team comprised of local engineers, which have enabled it to expand its offering and manufacture goods locally.
Launched by the Indian prime minister in 2014, the initiative is hoped to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub in response to dramatic falls in India’s economic growth rate.
However, a report from S&P Global released in January this year outlined a promising outlook for the Asia-Pacific region, which it said it “expected to be the fastest growing region of the world economy in 2024, underpinned by resilient domestic demand in East Asia and India”.
What’s more, according to Statista, the annual production growth rate in the Indian manufacturing industry was 4.7% percent during the 2023 fiscal year, with the research firm explaining that: “With the prospect of a huge consumer market, global giants such as Siemens, HTC, Toshiba have already set-up or are in the process of setting up manufacturing plants across the region. Apple has also been setting up nascent operations in India to diversify from China-centred production.”
The two-floor, 15,400m2 factory is situated near the city of Pune, Maharashtra; it will contribute to both local demand for FA goods as well as the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ scheme.
Sustainability also featured heavily in the design of the site, which limits carbon emissions through use of high-efficiency air-conditioning systems and LED lighting equipment.
The hub is also equipped with infrastructure to enable the reuse of wastewater through underground filtration treatment and greening. This will help the site meet its initial sustainable development goals, Mitsubishi Electric said.
