By offering talented people a chance to make a global difference with local effort, Schneider Electric India has become a sought after employer
Rachna Mukherjee, CHRO, Schneider Electric India and Anil Chaudhry, zone president and MD
Image: Nayan Shah for Forbes India
Schneider Electric, a multinational electrical gear and industrial automation equipment maker, has been present in India for more than 55 years. Its India operations started out as a joint venture in 1963, says Anil Chaudhry, zone president and managing director of Schneider Electric India. In the past 15 years, the company has looked at India as a much more strategic market, and expanded its operations manifold.
Starting with a global factory in Hyderabad, and an R&D centre, the company went from 1,700 people in India with “activity” equivalent of about $150 million to 31,000 employees and $2 billion in 2021. [Schneider doesn’t break down country-specific financial numbers publicly, so these are representative of the scale of overall operations, or activity, in India and not to be seen as sales or revenue].
The company has 30 factories in India. In August 2020, Schneider Electric also acquired Larsen & Toubro’s electrical and automation unit in a deal valued at $2 billion. Today, Schneider Electric India is the company’s third largest operation, after the US and China.
“India is also the company’s fourth global hub for technology, manufacturing, R&D and innovation, and more importantly, a talent hub for the group for the new and emerging economies,” Chaudhry says.
Schneider Electric reacted to the Covid pandemic like most of the multinational companies, quickly sharing practical knowledge as well as equipment like oxygen concentrators across their operations, and greatly expanding remote working capabilities for staff.
(This story appears in the 11 March, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)