Schneider Electric bullish on green energy
Global energy management and automation specialist Schneider Electric said on Friday that the spike in fuel prices, coupled with the rising focus on green energy, offers good business opportunity to the company in the country.
In the backdrop of increasing fuel prices, it was necessary to create an ecosystem for economising energy consumption and deriving optimum energy output through smart management of resources, Schneider Electric India Managing Director Anil Chaudhry told Business Standardhere.
He stressed on the growing need for developing such energy solutions, which were both efficient and sustainable in the long run. “We remain focused on delivering sustainable energy solutions and have been ramping up our renewable energy portfolio in recent years.” The company has a strong R&D presence in India, backed by about 1,400 dedicated engineers for developing energy solutions and products for the country and offshore markets, he informed.
“Almost 50 per cent of our production caters the export market, which is our contribution to the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the central government,” he underlined.
Meanwhile, the firm is also bullish on the Uttar Pradesh market owing to the slew of mega infrastructure projects, including metro rail, expressways, Smart City, etc.
Apart from Lucknow, the company has opened offices in Meerut, Gorakhpur and Muzaffarnagar. Schneider invests about ~500 million every year in its corporate social responsibility activities, including electrifying households in the hinterland through solar lighting solutions. It selects areas, which lack access to grid power to provide micro-grid or solar power solutions. So far, it claims to have provided power access to almost 3.5 million people in the hinterland. Schneider also skills unemployed youth in electrician training programme across the country through 270 centres.
Meanwhile, Schneider Electric a waits the regulatory nod to its proposal to buyout Lars en& Toubro’s (L& T) electrical& automation business for an all~140 billion. Earlier, the firm had formed a consortium with Singapore state investment arm Temasek Holdings for the mega transaction, which was announced in May 2018.
Under the proposal, both partners would make fresh investment in Schneider’s wholly owned subsidiary Schneider India, which in turn will buy out L&T unit on block.
Chaudhry was in town to participate in the 3-day Lucknow Electric Merchants and Contractors Association (LEMCA) Expo 2018, which kicked off today. The Expo provided a platform to showcase and demonstrate innovative solutions in the electrical and solar energy space.