Goldstone Infratech Ltd. (GIL), which manufactures electric buses through a technical collaboration with China's BYD has announced its plans to create up to 10,000 jobs in India in the next five years. It also aims to set up a joint venture firm to cater to R&D and after sales service facilities. Job creation and establishment of R&D center can be linked with its expansion plan in India. 

Goldstone Infratech’s President-Strategy Naga Satyam shared that they are aiming to make India a major hub for exports to neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh in the near future. 

The manufacturer has also been eyeing green funding in India as it seeks to expand operations in the country, where it sees huge potential.

Founded in 1994, in Hyderabad, Goldstone Infratech, currently, has assembly plants near Hyderabad with an annual capacity of 600 units and another upcoming plant at Bidur in Karnataka with a capacity of 1,500 units annually in the first phase, giving it a total capacity of 2,100 units per year. 

Goldstone Infratech’s President-Strategy Naga Satyam said, “We definitely see a creation of 8,000 to 10,000 new jobs in India in the next five years through our operations.” 

GIL aims to be the first company to export electric buses from India and that too very soon. 

“We want to export electric buses from these plants to the neighboring SAARC countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We will,” Goldstone Infratech’s President-Strategy Naga Satyam added. He also shared that GIL plans to invest INR 600 crore in the Karnataka plant, which is expected to be functional by October this year.

This also signifies more job creation in the manufacturing sector. Today, manufacturing industry is one of the biggest private sector employers in India. As per the sixth economic census 2013, the manufacturing sector employed 30,357,273 persons. And the National Manufacturing Policy 2011 aims to create 100 million jobs by 2022. 

The number of permanent employees in Goldstone Infratech was 173, as per its annual report 2016-17. As the company looks forward to expanding its operations in India, it will add more employees to its current workforce. However, it is still unknown which jobs will be created and where.   

Image Source: Goldstonebus.com