Klaus Kleinfeld (left), president and CEO of Siemens AG, with Juergen Schubert, managing director of Siemens Ltd, in Mumbai on Thursday. Picture by Hemant Mishra

Mumbai, Dec. 1: India has emerged as a key market for Siemens AG, the German industrial manufacturing company. President and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said with 13 manufacturing facilities spread across the country, Siemens India was positioned to play a larger role in the parent?s strategy for Asia.

?India is among the fastest growing economies in the world, with a large middle-class population and favourable demographies, which are huge demand drivers,? he said.

Siemens AG is planning to offer water technology solutions in India, leveraging the opportunities thrown up by its recent acquisition of US-based Filter.

Kleinfeld said here today that preliminary discussions on the issue has been held already. ?We will be rolling out (the water technology solutions) in all the regions. India is one of the major target markets.?

Siemens is betting big on the water solutions business because it expects worldwide water consumption to grow 40 per cent by 2025. Systems for water and waste water represent a huge global business worth around 290 billion euro.

Kleinfeld is on his second trip to India, but this time he is accompanied by the managing committee of Siemens AG, which underscores the importance of India.

He reckons that India is one of the biggest growth markets for the company with a sales growth of 40 per cent in the year ended September 30 ? on a par with the growth rate notched up by its Chinese operations. Siemens is also eyeing opportunities in the Internet Protocol television market and Kleinfeld said talks had been held with a few Indian players.