Robert Bosch India Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the German Bosch group, will be setting up its second software development facility in the next 12 months, a top company official said here Tuesday.


"We are looking for a second location outside Karnataka as part of our de-risking strategy. We propose to invest Rs.450 million ($10.19 million) in the second facility," subsidiary managing director Walter Grote told reporters here.

The subsidiary's first facility in Bangalore develops embedded software for automobiles and transport vehicles. It employs about 2900 engineers.

"We will ramp up headcount every year to have 6,000 engineers by 2010. Our Indian operations will be the biggest outside Germany," Grote said.

The Indian subsidiary provides engineering and non-engineering services to the Bosch group, including electronic control unit development for automotive, industrial, consumer goods and building technology.

The Euro 40-billion ($49.7 billion) Robert Bosch group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology.

It has two other subsidiaries in the sub-continent - Motor Industries Company Ltd (MICO) and Bosch Rexroth India Ltd.

Earlier, Bernd Bohr, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH and chairman of the automotive group, inaugurated the new facility in India's silicon hub, set up with an upfront investment of Rs.450 million.