Hyderabad can become automobile tech hub: KTR

Hyderabad: From wearing multiple crowns of the country’s information technology, pharmaceutical and startup hubs to being renowned for its active aerospace and defence ecosystem, Hyderabad on Monday put in its cards to make a mark in the automobile technology sector with one more global firm choosing the city to set up shop.

American automotive aftermarket parts provider Advance Auto Parts joined a long list of marquee companies in Hyderabad by opening its Global Capability Centre (GCC) here. This is the second largest such centre outside of the company’s headquarters in North Carolina in the US.

IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, speaking on the occasion, said Hyderabad’s growing technology talent had the potential to make the city a hub for automobile technology in the country.

Urging companies like Advance Auto Parts to make the city the one-stop shop for all their business needs, Rao said the State was looking forward to Advanced Auto Parts being a major part of the Telangana Mobility Valley (TMV) developed by the State government in Vikarabad.

“This is the first automobile company to set up its technology presence in Hyderabad and the second largest office outside of its headquarters in the US. With this, the company has joined the list of marquee companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft,” he said, adding that a leading Fortune 500 automotive parts provider setting up its GCC in Hyderabad was testimony to the investor-friendly policies of the Telangana government.

Pointing out that while the union government had set the net zero emission target to 2070, Rao said Telangana plans to achieve it much before. The State has been working with sustainable mobility companies in order to achieve the target.

“We are also going to host Formula-E in February and plan to host the Electric Vehicle Summit around the same time. It is the right opportunity for a company like Advance Auto Parts to mark its presence in Hyderabad,” he said.

Advance GCC India managing director Mahender Dubba said the company, with the new GCC, looks forward to attracting the best possible local talent and that they are committed to building their domestic base which currently employs close to 430 people with a year-end target of 600.

Advance Auto Parts CEO and president Tom Greco termed Hyderabad a mobility cluster and said they chose the city for setting up the GCC after going through multiple options such as Taipei, US and even Bengaluru. “The vibrant talent pool and growing infrastructure are the major factors which made us zero down on Hyderabad to set up our GCC. Going ahead, we plan to invest more in machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities,” Greco said.