GE plan $6 billion rural push

Pradipta Mukherjee, Kolkata
Business Standard
GE India, the $2.8 billion industrial giant, plans to invest $6 billion till 2015 in medical systems, services and IT tailor-made for rural India. Also, GE, the parent company, is looking at making India the sourcing hub for aerospace parts and healthcare products and is in the process of developing a supply chain for this.

According to Tejpreet S Chopra, president and CEO, “We are investing $6 billion till 2015. Around $3 billion will be invested in medical systems and services that will address the requirements of rural India.

Another $2 billion will be spent to finance schemes for the information technology sector and rural India. The remaining $1billion will be spent on building awareness about new products and on research and development for a better future.”

The company aims to offer “value for money” products in an attempt to make healthcare cheaper while covering more people and enhancing quality. GE, therefore, plans to invest $6 billion by 2015 in new medical systems and services designed to drive down costs while expanding access and improving quality.

Simultaneously, GE Aviation, one of the world’s largest manufacturer of jet engines for both commercial and military aircraft, is looking at sourcing $100 million worth of parts from India over the next three-five years.

“We already have a sourcing team in India. Going forward, we are looking at sourcing most of our aerospace parts and healthcare products from India to reduce costs by 20-30 percent. So,we are putting together a supply chain model,” Chopra said

GE is also increasing its research and development (R&D) presence and market focus in India, specially after the Indo-US nuclear pact and new governments taking over in both the countries.