Mumbai: Bosch, the world's second largest provider of automotive technologies, has announced plans of its group companies to invest about Rs1,000 crore in India over the next four years as part of its strategy to focus on Asia to drive global growth.

A significant part of this investment will be directed towards the introduction of the ''common rail diesel injection systems'' including application, testing and manufacturing. Bosch has been present in India since 1922 through its office in Kolkata and since the last 53 years through its subsidiary, Motor Industries Company Limited (MICO).

Robert Bosch, chairman of the automotive division, who has been assigned additional responsibility for India said, "Asia, and in particular India, will play a significant role in our growth plans."

Currently, Bosch is a 36.4 billion euro company, with business interests in automotive technology, industrial technology and consumer and building technology. Its automotive division contributes about two-thirds of its global turnover. Given the rapid developments by the automotive industry in India, and significant reduction in the technology generation gap between Europe and India, Bosch will transfer global automotive technologies to MICO to enhance technological sophistication of its customers in India who include global and Indian OEMs.

Among the latest and most advanced automotive technologies pioneered by Bosch to be launched in India will be the common rail diesel injection system. Common rail has contributed to making diesel cars cleaner, more economical, less noisy and sportier.

This is one of the main reasons for its success in Europe, where in 2003, almost 44 per cent of all new passenger cars that were registered, were diesel powered. The company believes that there will be a successful adoption of this technology in India as well. The first locally manufactured common rail systems are scheduled to come off production lines at MICO by early 2006.

Common rail provides an environmentally clean technology solution that conforms to the current international emission norms. With the increase in global demand for diesel and emergence of diesel as the fuel of choice for countries like India, Bosch will introduce several technological enhancements of the diesel fuel injection systems to make automotives cleaner, safer and more economical. The company believes that as the market for diesel expands, 60 per cent of the diesel applications will be common rail systems over the next eight to ten years.

All this augurs well for MICO in India. "MICO is already a leader in the Indian automotive market. We will introduce new products and technologies from the global portfolio of Bosch over the next few years to strengthen this position and respond to the rapidly changing and challenging environment," said Dr Albert Hieronimus, managing director, Motor Industries Company Limited.

Bosch will further develop the R&D competence of MICO. MICO will also play a significant role in the export market. The strengthened presence of Bosch in India will entail significant benefits for MICO that has so far enjoyed a large share of the diesel fuel injection systems market, with an average 13 per cent growth per annum over the last few years.

Bosch will also use its presence in India through MICO to further promote its interests in non-automotive spheres including power tools, security technology and packaging machinery. The company sees considerable growth potential in these sectors.

Bosch also plans to further expand its software development capacities in India through its subsidiary, Robert Bosch India Limited (RBIN), through an additional investment of Rs85 crore at the Bangalore campus. RBIN was founded in 1998 and has acquired an excellent reputation for its software development capabilities within the Bosch world.