Senior Bosch official Bernd Bohr in Bangalore on Monday. (AFP)

Bangalore, Aug. 23: Motor Industries Co Ltd (MICO), the Indian arm of the Germany-based Bosch group, today said it will invest Rs 1,000 crore in India over the next four years. The fund will be utilised in manufacturing injection equipment for diesel engines run on the common rail direct injection (CRDi) technology.

“Bosch would shift gears in India and introduce new products and technologies from its global portfolio over the next few years, which is in line with our worldwide strategy,” said Bernd Bohr, member of the board of management and chairman of the automotive group at Robert Bosch. Bohr would also oversee the Indian operations.

“The CRDi system has created a success story for Bosch over the past few years and we believe there would be a successful adoption of this technology in India,” he added.

The first locally manufactured CRDi systems are scheduled to come off production lines by early 2006.

The Stuttgart-based Bosch holds 60.55 per cent equity in MICO Bosch, which manufactures fuel injection equipment for cars and components for the domestic and overseas markets.

MICO, which employs around 11,000 people at its four plants — two in Bangalore and one each in Nashik and Jaipur — would invest Rs 550 crore to set up the CRDi manufacturing system at its Bangalore and Nashik facilities. Officials said the investment would be funded from the firm’s internal accruals.

“Apart from making the CRDi systems, we would use the fund for application and testing,” said Albert Hieronimus, managing director of MICO.

“We would invest further to build-up capacities in India and with technology infusion from Bosch, we would be well-placed to serve our customers, both global and Indian,” he added.

Officials said the firm would annually invest about Rs 150 crore over a period of three years in capacity expansion programmes.

“India represents another big opportunity and we believe that 60 per cent of the diesel market would be powered by CRDi engines in the next eight to 10 years,” Bohr said.

In 2003, Bosch, which supplies injection equipment to carmakers, including Ford, Hyundai, General Motors and Suzuki, reported sales worth €413 million. Of this, €361 million was from automotive technology.

“We have enjoyed an average 13 per cent growth per annum over the last few years and the market is expanding,” said M. Lakshminarayan, joint managing director of MICO.