Panasonic plans to double headcount to 20k in India by 2012

Munish Shekhavat
Tokyo, Oct 11 (PTI) Japan's consumer electronics major
Panasonic plans to double its headcount in India to 20,000 in
next two years with the commissioning of its new manufacturing
facility at Jhajjar in Haryana.
The company's Indian arm, Panasonic India is currently
investing Rs 1000 crore to set up the new plant, spread over
in 37,000 square meters. It will be operational by 2012.
"We have around 10,000 employees in India at the moment.
We will be almost doubling this in two years," Panasonic India
CEO Daizo Ito said.
"When we start manufacturing at Jhajjar, we will have
nearly 20,000 employees," he added.
The new plant will be mainly for home appliances like
air conditioners and washing machines. It will also be used
for welding for third party customers like automobiles
industry (welding of car, motorbike) and for construction
industry, Ito added.
In order to gauge the requirements of its Indian
customers, the company has also set up a research and
development (R&D) centre at Gurgaon.
"The R&D research centre has already been set up and
activities have started there. The facility is doing market
research for products specifically for Indian market," he
said.
Currently, the R&D centre has 12 people and the company
plans to add another 200 people by the end of next year.
Panasonic India had a turnover of Rs 4,500 crore for the
year ended March 31, 2010, including the sales generated by
its recently acquired entities, Sanyo Electric and Anchor.
The Indian arm's sales was nearly 2-3 per cent of
Panasonic's total overseas sales. Out of the Japanese firm's
overall turnover, overseas sales account for 50 per cent and
the rest coming from its domestic sales.
Commenting on prospects in India, Ito said the company
is aiming to increase turnover from the country and expects to
contribute about 5 per cent of Panasonic's total overseas
sales by 2012.
"By 2018 we hope to achieve nearly 10 per cent of
Panasonic's overseas sales from Indian market," Ito said.
The company, which reported 200 per cent growth in the
past three years in India, is looking to continue with the
trend for the next two more years.
"India is the most important country and market for
growth for us," Ito added. PTI MSS
MHM