Not one or two, but three companies are serving clients with robots Made in India from Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The icing on the cake is that these three companies have over eight manufacturing facilities located in the vicinity. But why did they choose Noida over Haryana’s Gurugram, Manesar and Delhi? The top shots from these companies answer!
“The government officials reviewing our factory projects and guiding us to meet the compliance criteria was the biggest surprise for us,” Sangeet Kumar, CEO of Addverb Technologies, said on being asked about why Addverb set up its first robots-making facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP).”
UP, to me and you alike, is still probably known as the Indian State, which produces the most amount and varieties of wheat, other crops, fruits, and vegetables. In Noida, however, a handful of companies are changing this image.
Addverb, Falcon Autotech, and OttonomyIO, three of these companies, are manufacturing robots and robotics solutions deployed in the warehouse and logistics segments here. As a matter of fact, Addverb’s two manufacturing facilities situated in Noida namely Bot-Verse and Bot-Valley, are being touted as the world’s most giant warehouse robot-making facilities of the world. These facilities are serving clients based in Australia, Dubai, United States, Singapore, and Europe.
Sandeep Bansal, CBO, Falcon Autotech, explains, “We set up our first factory in Noida about 12 years back. The policies were favourable, and an ecosystem of electronic components existed, which was a prerequisite for us.”
Kumar added, “Addverb got land parcels under the UP Government’s startup policy, and this was the only policy in Delhi NCR that had specific room for robotics as electronic components.”
Falcon Autotech has five warehouse and logistics-robots manufacturing facilities located in Noida. Notably, this city’s only nearest competition in North India is from Haryana’s Gurugram located GreyOrange. However, GreyOrange does not make robots there as it supports its client base in India from that location.
Also Read: If Any Country Can Beat China In Robotics, It’s India: Sangeet Kumar
Existing Electronics Ecosystem
As Bansal mentioned earlier, an existing ecosystem of electronics components was what fuelled the company’s desire to set up shop in Noida. “Many essential components used in our solutions are common to those used in consumer electronics and smartphones. We still source a lot of these from this vendor ecosystem.”
Kumar added that apart from the ecosystem, the aspiration of robotics engineers located in Delhi-NCR to work for good robotics and make a good lifestyle for themselves and their families also helped in finalising Noida as the final location.
“There are many who have moved closer to our manufacturing facilities, which simply means that not just the ecosystem, these facilities have also added to the real-estate sector of UP,” he said.
Addverb had evaluated UP, Haryana, and Delhi to set up these factories. According to Kumar, renting or buying houses near the location for employees was much more affordable than buying or renting houses in Gurugram, Manesar, or any part of Delhi.
As of today, the company, with Reliance as one of its biggest investors, has served 300+ global clients and automated 500+ warehouses with robots and solutions made in Noida, India. Falcon Autotech, on the other hand, is also spreading its wings outside India and is targeting to generate the majority of its revenue from outside India. Notably, both companies serve international clients designed, developed, and manufactured in India.
“Apart from the land subsidy for our first factory, all other compliances were approved without any bottlenecks. Even for our second facility, we looked at Bhiwadi and some other cities, but the benefits offered by UP outweighed them,” says Kumar. Addverb has recently set up its second factory in Noida, which is more significant than its first one.
Also Read: Falcon Autotech To Increase International Play, Export More Says Sandeep Bansal
Towards The ESDM & MOVES Ecosystem
With Jewar International Airport, located around 50 km from Noida, these companies see many opportunities opening up. Bansal noted that while 50 km might sound like a “good distance” to cover, the journey to and from the same to Noida will not take more than 40 minutes to the highway infrastructure that is being developed and the one that is already operational. Comparatively, Delhi’s IGI airport is some 80 km away, and the route goes through heavy traffic jams and various toll-roads.
“We are now also in constant talks with ESDM companies setting up shops around Noida to offer them automation solutions. Robotic arms are the smallest example I can give. Then big logistics parks are being developed around the airport,” Bansal said.”
He also sees the share of revenues these companies originate from UP increasing multifold in the years to come. As of today, this share is less than 5% of the revenue generated by these companies. Additionally, both Bansal and Kumar believe that the developed component ecosystem in India is paving the way for more MOVES (Mobility and Vehicle Electronics) players to set up shop in Noida, and the rest of UP.
“The similarities between electric vehicles, robots, drones, and allied segments are so close that many players would now want to benefit from the ecosystem developed here. I see a lot of growth on the EV and ESDM front here around Noida during the next decade,” Bansal said.
Apart from the ground robotics companies, seven of the top drone manufacturers have recently set up manufacturing in Uttar Pradesh. Kumar also credits IIT Kanpur and IIIT Allahabad as enablers of the robotics ecosystem in Noida.
“These educational institutions have been providing us with constant guidance and help in R&D. The professors, faculty members, and students have been helping the ecosystem in a big way,” Kumar highlighted.
As per a report by Markets, the Global Industrial Automation market size is estimated to be USD 147.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 218.8 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 8.2%. On the other hand, a Precedence Research report notes that the global robotics technology market size was estimated at $72.17 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass around $283.19 billion by 2032 with a registered CAGR of 14.7% during the forecast period 2023 to 2032.
