Danfoss India, a company specializing in energy efficient technologies, has inaugurated its new manufacturing, Research and Development (R&D) and administrative campus in Oragadam, Chennai.
The plant, with an investment of Rs 500 crore, also includes a solar power plant which will generate 1MW of electricity, sufficient to power 10 percent of electricity requirements of the campus.
The move aligns with the company’s Make in India initiative launched two years ago. In addition to manufacturing Danfoss will focus on R&D in the new campus, making India a manufacturing cum export hub for its regional subsidiaries.
“We are pleased to commence our manufacturing at the right place and at the right time and believe this will enable Danfoss India operations to become the export hub for Asia-Pacific markets,” said Niels B Christiansen, president and chief executive officer, Danfoss Global.
The new campus encompasses facilities for research and development, skill development, and product development along with customer application development center and testing labs with a focus on innovation for customized solutions.
The Product Development Centers and Customer application development center will support developing improved energy efficiency applications in Cold Chain and Infrastructure which can be customized to cater to different customers.
A dedicated Customer Application Development Centre includes a Psychrometric Laboratory that will help in testing of Danfoss products to gauge its application prowess and thus aid informed decisions.
Danfoss foresees growth opportunities in the cooling sector in India and has identified skill gaps in the industry. To promote this, the company will conduct Skill Development Programs such as the Danfoss Learning Center within the campus will help facilitate knowledge transfer about Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning and Commercial Compressor products, applications and technologies and services to customers and industry stakeholders.
With the Ammonia Training Unit which is an operational demonstration and training ammonia system the company will strive to improve awareness about Ammonia and train in its application as a feasible low GWP refrigerant.
Danfoss will source the products from local suppliers, helping create ancillary jobs.
The 1MW solar park is expected to generate 1.5 million units per annum. Other key features of the campus include energy efficient structural glazing, re-use of construction waste generated, use of recycled material as much as possible, insulated roofs to minimize heat ingress, roofs with natural lighting and a courtyard (2×500 Sqm) inside the administrative building.
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