Schneider Electric views its acquisition of Larsen & Toubro’s Electrical & Automation (E&A) business as a big strength for the company, according to Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and Global CEO of Schneider Electric.
Jean-Pascal Tricoire expressed this view during a virtual media conference, which was part of Schneider Electric’s “Innovation Summit World Tour 2021” held digitally on October 12, 2021.
“We are optimistic that both the teams (Schneider Electric and L&T) will build together in India. We see this as a big strength for Schneider Electric in India,” noted Jean-Pascal Tricoire.
Schneider Electric, in September 2020, officially announced that it completed the acquisition of the electrical and automation (E&A) business of Larsen & Toubro. This transaction saw the merger of L&T’s E&A business with the Low Voltage and Industrial Automation Product business of Schneider Electric India under “Schneider Electric India Pvt Ltd”.
The Schneider Electric CEO observed that this merger of the two forces has made Schneider Electric’s business in India the company’s third largest globally – only after USA and China.
According to Tricoire, Schneider Electric’s plan for India is to create a hub—inclusive of product specification, R&D, manufacturing and a network of suppliers—that will serve India and other countries around, with technology and systems that are fully adapted to local conditions.
Jean-Pascal observed that India was a big country and, in fact, belonged to the exclusive club of countries with a population of over 1 billion. As such, India has huge demand for electrification, digitization and industrialization, the CEO observed. The merger of the two businesses will enable Schneider Electric to serve the Indian market better, he felt.
The Schneider Electric Global CEO noted that Schneider Electric offers a unique portfolio of software and digitization solutions to its customers worldwide. While software accounts for around 8 per cent of the company’s global business turnover, digitization has a larger share of 40 per cent. Both these services are of special relevance to India—a country that has tremendous potential for digitization, apart from general electrification and industrial automation.
Importance of regional hubs
Jean-Pascal Tricoire stressed that one of the strengths of Schneider Electric worldwide was to empower local organizations to deal with their markets effectively. “We are an organization that is unique in this sense,” stressed Tricoire. Schneider Electric has very strong hubs in diversified regions like the Americas, Europe, India and China.
Explaining the rationale behind these diverse hubs, Jean-Pascal Tricoire observed, “In our sector this is important because standards are very localized in electrical goods as well as in digitization solutions.” It was therefore important for Schneider Electric to act fast in responding and relating to the local systems. In this context, the synergy with L&T’s E&A business will enable Schneider Electric to develop a solid hub in India, felt Jean-Pascal Tricoire.
(Featured photograph sourced from www.larsenandtoubro.com)