“Green India,” Smart Manufacturing

We arrive by car at the Technology Innovation International Park (TIIP) in India’s third-largest city, Bengaluru (Bangalore). On the red soil covered with wild weeds, amid windblown dust and sand, several large excavators are at work preparing the ground on lots within the first technology-based industrial park in India planned by Taiwanese enterprises. One building in particular stands out: a modern white concrete structure with a wooden lattice facade. It houses the offices and factory of TEMICO, TECO’s Indian subsidiary, the first company to begin operating in the TIIP.

Three years ago, TEMICO CEO Matthew Lim was transferred by TECO headquarters from Singapore to India to “blaze a trail” there. A Singaporean national, he speaks excellent Mandarin Chinese and can also get by in Taiwanese Hokkien. He directly explains to us the keys to getting this large order for powertrains.

EV trend, personal connections

TEMICO was founded through a joint venture between TECO and Japan’s Mitsui & Co. Mitsui had offices in Mumbai (Bombay) as early as 1893 and has at least 26 investment projects in India, so it has an extensive network of relationships there.

“Mitsui has an excellent network of contacts in India and understands local laws and government requirements, which is what has enabled us to win bids for Indian government projects,” says Lim, adding: “The reason Mitsui sought out TECO was mainly because of TECO’s technological competitive advantage. TECO not only has mastered critical production processes for EV powertrains, its products are competitive in terms of both price and functionality.”

Lim notes: “It’s hard for outsiders to imagine the level of price sensitivity in India.” While meeting the Indian government’s regulatory and technical requirements, companies must nevertheless make relatively inexpensive products. Thus the biggest challenge for manufacturers is to figure out how to reduce costs in order to maximize gross profit. However, TECO has been in business for over 60 years, and every year it has continually improved its performance in terms of lowering production costs.

Lim suggests that the main reason many Taiwanese firms invest in India is to separate themselves from China in view of the geopolitical competition between China and the US. The reason TECO invested in India, however, was because it is optimistic about the Indian EV market.

Secondly, many foreign firms invest in India simply to produce goods they will export to other markets, whereas TECO is responding to the government’s “Make in India” initiative, which aims for localized manufacturing chains that can directly supply products to the domestic market.

Bengaluru-based TEMICO is duplicating TECO’s Taiwan experience by introducing intelligent production lines, enabling the company to successfully establish itself in the Indian market.

Government-led “Green India”

“There is currently a slowdown in the development of the EV market worldwide, but it’s the opposite for EVs in India.” Lim has observed that both the central and local governments have a consensus on developing EVs and are promoting sustainable public transport programs.

“Public transport” refers to public buses, government vehicles, and the two- or three-wheeled taxis (including those used for Uber or Ola services) that fill India’s streets. Since launching Phase II of the “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles” (FAME-II) program in 2019, India has offered subsidies to generate market demand for EVs.

In 2024, sales of electric-powered three-wheeled vehicles in India surpassed those powered by internal combustion engines. More specifically, of every 100 three-wheelers purchased in 2024, 52 were EVs. Lim concludes: “With the powerful support of the government, India will lead the world in the transition to EVs.”

TECO sent an advance team that had previously set up factories in Vietnam and Mexico to Bengaluru to help install a variety of equipment including automated electrical gear, solvent-free varnish equipment, and automated painting and drying equipment, to duplicate in India the kind of automated intelligent production lines that function so smoothly in Taiwan.

TEMICO will be manufacturing high-efficiency motors and electric vehicle powertrains.

With its technological strengths in electrical engineering, TECO, a long-established company in Taiwan, has mastered key production processes for EV powertrains, and won a large order from the Indian government for the development of electric buses.

Early pioneering work by TECO

In fact, TECO set up offices in Delhi, India, as early as 2008, and founded a small motor factory in Gujarat State in 2016. Theodore Huang, chairman of the TECO Group, had some personal contacts with Narendra Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat until 2014. With remarkable foresight, Huang also bought land in Bengaluru very early on. With the information technology and EV industries thriving in Bengaluru today, manpower and land costs have skyrocketed, and many companies that want to invest there have discovered that land is in short supply.

Aside from the joint venture’s Taiwanese and Japanese personnel, the TEMICO factory only employs Indians. Production manager Ramesh Murugesan says that their workers can get up to speed with only half a year of training.

TEMICO also makes powertrains for passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles. The photo shows a TECO permanent magnet synchronous motor.

Production center for electric motors

TEMICO produces powertrains for EVs as well as super-high-efficiency industrial motors. The production line is an upgrade over TECO’s existing operation in Gujarat, and is built on “Industry 4.0” principles. For example, its design incorporates Internet of Things (IoT) elements, so that company personnel in Taiwan can track production progress or monitor breakdowns in real time.

From the start the factory’s design has incorporated carbon reduction measures, including collecting and analyzing data about electrical power consumption during the production process. Matthew Lim says that TECO emphasizes values including energy savings, carbon reduction, smart manufacturing, and automation, and these are all reflected in the new factory in Bengaluru.

Lim believes: “The most important thing is to seize the advantage of having a head start. If one can do that, the odds of winning are great.” For a manufacturing company, it takes time to nurture a local supply chain, but TECO has already taken the first steps, gaining a lead that represents a competitive advantage. In doing so, the firm is also extending the development of Taiwan’s EV industry overseas.

At the first high-tech industrial park in India designed by TECO, TEMICO was the first company to begin operating.