In the past five years, the Columbus, Indiana, -based company has invested over $1 billion in India.
Cummins, a US company that designs and manufactures engines, filtration and power generation products, will manufacture battery packs in India.
A top executive of the company told a trade publication that Cummins is planning to start a new venture in India to manufacture automotive battery packs.
“We will soon start manufacturing batteries in India and initially we will continue to focus on the commercial vehicle segment,” said Julie Furber, the executive director of electrification business development at Cummins, told ETAuto. “While we are already talking to partners here to take this forward, we will soon be making investments towards new technology in India.”
Cummins has already been developing the power in battery segment. It recently completed the acquisition of the automotive battery systems business of the British chemicals group of Johnson Matthey, which specializes in making high-voltage batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles.
“We are also ready with hybrid engines to service the Indian market. We have recently developed a range extender which can take buses and trucks to over 150 miles (241 kms) in one charge without compromising much on space and weight,” Furber said.
In the past five years, the US company has invested over $1 billion in India. It also includes a 1,500-crore global technical center in Pune and it has recruited about 2,000 engineers.
“The global technical centre will become operational this month and the centre will not only serve the Indian market but will also provide strong support to the markets overseas,” Furber said.
Cummins, which started its operations in India in a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group, has been present in India for more than six decades.
Cummins has committed to develop green technologies and it expects the conventional internal combustion engine to remain applicable for the future.
Cummins, which is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, sells in approximately 190 countries and territories through a network of more than 600 company-owned and independent distributors and approximately 6,000 dealers.