Lenze Mechatronics Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Rs 5,000-crore Lenze SE Germany, will expand its Indian operations by setting up a manufacturing facility at Chakan near Pune with an investment of over Rs 25 crore to manufacture engineering technical goods, including gear motors. Lenze SE, a Euro 600 million company which specialises in motion-centric automation, has been in operation in the country since 2005. The company had three small facilities - one at Bhosari and two at Wagholi - with revenue of Rs 50 crore for the last financial year. All the three operations will now be transferred to the new plant.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Erhard Tellbuesher, CEO, Lenze SE, said that Lenze currently has manufacturing facilities in Germany, Switzerland, USA, Italy, China and India out of which India promises huge potential, especially in the automotive, textiles, and printing and packaging sectors. "It is the second-biggest market for the German machine industry. We expect our business to grow at 20 per cent CAGR and double our capacities in 4-5 years," he added.

Debasish Nandi, Managing Director, Lenze India, said that the opening of the new facility will increase the production capacity four times that of its Bhosari plant and will also help increase the capacity of gearboxes from 11 kW to 18.5 kW. The new plant is spread over 3.5 acres with half of the area being developed currently. The company provides end-to-end solutions in motion-centric automation with the production of gear boxes, controllers and software for running the applications. The company has a warehouse, repair shop and sales application department to support its operations with sales offices at Pune, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.

The company also exports its products from India to Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which constitutes 5-6 per cent of India revenues. Dr Thomas Cord, Managing Director, Lenze Automation, informed that Pune also has a software development centre for automation systems with 30 qualified engineers. This is expected to double in the coming three years. "We are willing to invest more in India depending on the growth," he said.