Philips global CEO Frans Van Houten has stated that the consumer durables giant will invest as much as Rs 300 crore in India. It also intends to hire 1,500 people in the country. The company will develop its Pune facilities.
In an interview with The Economic Times, Van Houten remarked, “I would mention the importance of our Innovation Centre in Bengaluru, where most of our software resources reside. We are also expanding our Global Business Services Hub in Chennai, so overall employment for Philips in India is strong. We have a current plan to expand employment by at least 1,500 people”.
He announced that Philips is focused on India as it deems it is a prominent market. Further, the company makes good use of the ‘lot of talent’ in India. The Philips CEO also thinks that a lot of local manufacturing will come to the country. Furthermore, he added that they are expanding their Pune facility and ensuring more manufacturing there. “We will see more local manufacturing coming to India because the market is important and there is a good workforce”.
Van Houten stated that the pandemic had seen an outbreak in terms of their production. In the first quarter last year, they expanded critical care equipment such as ventilators and monitors. “On one hand, we saw critical and acute care rise rapidly; on the other, we saw the more conventional business for elective procedures go down,” he said, adding that this year is opposite as regular care has come back. He added that the affordability of healthcare in India is an issue despite numerous schemes. “Access to care is something that has to be developed further. Also, getting in infrastructure that can cater for diseases at this kind of scale remains a challenge,” said Van Houten.
