Auto components maker Bosch said it will hire 3,000 people for its engineering operations across the country and soon start work on the second phase expansion of its technology development centre in Bengaluru, its biggest engineering facility outside parent country Germany.
Most of the new recruits will be fresh graduates from engineering colleges in the fields of software, IT, analytics and other technologies, Soumitra Bhattacharya, managing director of Bosch Ltd, told TOI.
Bhattacharya, who took over from former India head Steffen Berns last year, said the second phase development will start in the “near future."
The company started the first phase expansion in September, at an investment of about $50 million. That has the capacity to accommodate about 3,000 engineers.The facility will house the majority of the local development including R&D cen tres of Bosch Ltd, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, and Bosch Home Appliances.
Bosch works in a number of technology areas including connected cars, IoT (internet of things), artificial intelligence and more for its businesses that include mobility solutions, industrial technology , consumer goods, and energy and building technology .
Bhattacharya said the Adugodi campus is also working on components that would be imperative for vehicles as they race to meet the government deadline of converting to BSVI (Bharat Stage 6) emission norms from April 2020, from BSIV (Bharat Stage 4) currently .
“It is a completely different system. We need high pressure pumps and for the first time, there is a requirement for exhaust gas treatment (EGT). We will make some parts of it and trade the rest. It has several components to it such as sensors and reactors. This technological change in the engine, starting with fuel injections, is a big jump and the timeline is very tight," he said.
EGT is an auto component that is mandatory for vehicles under BSVI norms and causes CO2 emissions to remain with permissible limits. He said no other country had leapfrogged an emission stage (India will not go through BSV) and the normal time gap between one emission norm and the next is about 4-5 years. “From fuel to technology providers like us, it's a big challenge to be ready by September 2019, but we will do it," said Bhattacharya.