ALSTOM, Infosys set up joint R&D centre in Bangalore

Mumbai: ALSTOM today announced that it is will invest Euro 31 million ($39 million) over the next three years in a research centre that the company is setting up jointly with Infosys.

The R&D centre, to be located at the Infosys campus in Bangalore, will focus on high-end engineering services such as product development, engineering simulation, control engineering and product lifecycle management (PLM). With an initial manpower strength of 60, the centre will have over 300 people in the next three years. ALSTOM plans to focus 20 per cent of its global R&D spending in India.

Speaking on the occasion, Philippe Joubert, president, ALSTOM Power said, "This is a great opportunity for ALSTOM to strengthen its presence in India by using the skills and talents offered by Infosys. Together, we will be able to make our products more focused on the needs of the Indian market."

ALSTOM expects the R&D centre to enable it to develop rapid designs to speed up deployment of better designed and cost-effective products that improve life and efficiency of mechanical components; reducing time-to-market improving performance and cost-effectiveness by using new materials;reducing environmental impact and atmospheric emissions of products.

Explaining the rationale for the partnership, Nandan M Nilekani, CEO, president and managing director, Infosys Technologies Ltd., said, "About 50 to 70 per cent of the cost of any product is decided at the design stage. Given the significant pressure on R&D and engineering heads to focus on innovation, India is increasingly being looked at as a global engineering hub. This is not just due to the high-quality talent available in India but also because of the world-class business practices and processes offered by Indian companies."