New Delhi (IANS) French company Schneider Electric has decided to infuse Rs 350-400 crore in its power backup and storage solutions provider and Indian subsidiary Luminous Power Technologies, months after it decided to put off the plan to sell the subsidiary as part of a restructuring drive.
Luminous Power has performed exceedingly well during the pandemic, which has pushed the parent entity to give a fresh look at this subsidiary and strengthen its operations further, the company said.
Schneider Electric proposes to use the fresh investment to pursue aggressive growth plans of Luminous, which entail doubling the battery and inverter production capacity, generating new employment opportunities, and ramping up its solar business.
Luminous currently manufactures 3.12 million batteries annually. With the fresh funding, it plans to expand the production to 5.1 million by 2025 and increase its capacity by 63 per cent.
It also plans to develop a new plant that will support the production of Tall-Tubular Batteries (TTB). The plant will be set up in two phases, the first will see the manufacturing capacity of 30,000 TTBs, which will be further ramped up to 65,000 TTBs in the second phase.
Luminous is also eyeing to direct Rs 185 crore towards building the capacity towards upgrading technology for battery and next-generation inverter manufacturing.
The new investment will also help maintain and build further its ‘Aatmanirbhar’ principles — as 90 per cent of its products are made in India and manufactured in-house, the company said.
Luminous will expand its existing seven plants in the country and will set up two new manufacturing plants, generating direct employment for more than 2,000 people and supporting over 10,000 people and their families indirectly.
The new funds will also help bolster the company’s backward integration philosophy of key components, which is expected to come alive in the next 12-18 months.
A significant part of the investment will be focused on Luminous’ solar business, from which it expects to get 40 per cent of the company’s sales by 2025.
Commenting on the expansion plan, Vipul Sabharwal, Managing Director, Luminous Power Technologies, said, “The power backup and home electrical market demand in India is experiencing robust growth, especially with a large population transitioning to a remote working/work-from-home environment.
“Together with Schneider Electric, we plan to complement this growth vision by investing almost Rs 400 crore to expand our manufacturing capabilities and specialised business divisions.”
Manish Pant, EVP, Schneider Electric, and member of the Luminous Board, added, “Luminous is in the high growth prosumer business and we will be investing significantly in the next few years to scale this business up even more.”