KOLKATA: Japan's largest consumer electronics maker, Panasonic Corp plans to invest more than Rs 1,500 crore in India over the next three years as part of a global plan to make India and Brazil its centrepiece of future expansion, said global president Kazuhiro Tsuga.

Tsuga, who is in Mumbai in a three-day visit after taking charge as president last year June, also met business heads of the Tata Group and Reliance Industries to forge business partnerships in India, including opportunities for joint manufacturing and product development.

"India is a high growth market for us globally; hence we are planning investment in this region on products, talent, marketing and manufacturing," Tsuga said in a press conference held in Mumbai on Tuesday.

"Panasonic wants to drive revenue growth in India by its consumer business and profitability by focusing on the B2B segment comprising of energy and security solutions," he said.

Panasonic has also streamlined its India operations by ensuring each of the business divisions handles everything from product development to manufacturing and sales. Tsuga said the company wants to fuel growth by accelerating product development and business promotion to meet local needs.

"There will be a sound focus on local manufacturing and expansion of production processes and the company will continue focusing on developing India-specific product innovations. Despite the consumer durable segment being challenging, Panasonic has successfully made inroads into Indian households," he said.

Panasonic is aiming to double the contribution of B2B segment to overall India revenue by 2015 and will be introducing new product range such as energy solutions, security and surveillance systems, solutions products and IT products.

 

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com