In India, GE innovates on products and services that are relevant to the Indian market, and these innovations are then taken to global markets. This concept is being adopted by many U.S. and European multinational companies in the country.
To solve the challenge of electrification of rural households, GE created the Hybrid Distributed Power system at the John F. Welch Technology Center in Bangalore, India. “The concept was that we can use a hybrid power system of solar, batteries, and diesel. And the trick here from the innovation standpoint is to use analytics for remote monitoring and diagnostics,” Vishal Wanchoo, president and CEO, GE-South Asia, says. GE India has also developed a wind turbine that is capable of capturing and generating electricity at much lower wind speeds, of 15 miles per hour and below. Wanchoo adds, “India will become the center of excellence for designing and developing the product for markets like China, Vietnam, Pakistan and parts of Europe.”
India’s talent in software engineering is another innovation focus area for multinational companies. Software made in India is an integral part of many products that are sold worldwide.
James Brandt, managing director, Lowe’s India said, “While our initial intent of the Lowe’s Innovations Labs [in Bangalore] was to look at futuristic technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics and 3D printing, we have expanded our scope into data sciences as well.”
The 18,000-strong IT engineering workforce of German multinational Bosch in India has created many kinds of products and services. One of these is the telematic solution called iTraMS (intelligent transportation management system) that allows fleet-owners to effectively manage their fleet—vehicles and aircraft. “More than 2,500 people [in India] are developing software solutions for Advance Parking Systems,” says Dr. Andreas Wolf, joint managing director, Bosch Limited. “A Mercedes or any other car, you would be surprised of how much software in it is developed in India.”
Siemen‘s engineers in India played a key role in the design and development of two 3D-printed oil sealing rings for an industrial steam turbine at JSW Steel Ltd. Siemens’s SYNGO classic software, a platform for imaging systems that are manufactured by Siemens Healthcare, was developed at the company’s technology center in Bangalore.
GE has an analytics factory in Bangalore that does data analytics across all of GE’s verticals across the world, says Wanchoo.
