Standing outside ABB India’s Faridabad plant in Haryana, you may probably fail to conclude that this unit could have a long history. It is expansive, spick and span and looks like something that has been set up recently. A walkthrough of its administrative block and then assembly line would also offer the same impression. So, you would be surprised when you are told that the unit had come into existence in 1951 for refugee training and then was acquired by the company, the Swiss electrical giant Brown Boveri, in 1962, which ultimately became ASEA Brown Boveri or ABB, as it is popularly known, after the merger with Swedish firm ASEA.
ABB has quite an expansive manufacturing presence in the country, specialising in verticals like electrification, motion and automation. It has over 20 plants in five locations. But, for the company with a revenue base of Rs13,000 crore plus, this plant holds a special place. It is the fulcrum of its motion business, driven by motor products of all varieties and categories, with low-voltage versions now increasingly gaining prominence, as also probably the biggest motor manufacturing unit in the country. And the kind of production activities you notice around send a clear message that the company is keen to take this business to the next level, with increasing focus on new generation motors, which add efficiency in myriad ways. “Energy efficiency is the strategic priority of the nation,” says Sanjeev Arora, president, motion business & IEC low voltage motors, ABB India. “Not only will it help in energy security, but it will also lead to quicker sustainability goals. The power low-voltage motors can help save and light millions of homes”. Arora does not forget to emphasise that the company’s experimentation and development of new-age motors are broadly aligned with the larger ‘Make in India’ drive.
A critical pillar
While the Faridabad plant is the fulcrum for ABB India’s motor manufacturing business, this product line is also being nurtured at about 10 other plants in the country. Meanwhile, watching the assembly lines at the Faridabad unit, you may witness the amazing world of motors as specified by their different categories – apart from regular ones (HVAC), you will come across motors that are classified as flame-proof and explosion-proof, normally used in heavy industrial activities like mining, exploration, chemicals, etc. “From a manufacturing standpoint, ABB Motion in India has a significant footprint, with more than 2,000 employees across 10 manufacturing facilities, located in four major manufacturing hubs,” explains Arora. “This scale, combined with our comprehensive portfolio, positions us well to serve a wide range of industrial, infrastructure and transportation customers in both domestic and global markets”. On an overall basis, the ‘motion business area’ comprises six divisions. These include IEC low-voltage motors, low-voltage drives, medium-voltage drives, large motors & generators, high-power drives and motion services, which provide lifecycle support across our entire installed base. In addition, there is a NEMA motors business (premium energy-efficient motors) that primarily caters to export markets, particularly the US. These products have a relatively limited presence in the domestic market. There is also a strong traction business, wherein ABB India supplies traction converters for both Indian Railways and metro rail projects. ABB’s domestic prominence in some of these sectors is well testified by the fact that about 80 per cent of India’s metro rail networks now rely on its traction drives and motors.
Business-wise, the criticality of the motion division is underlined by the financial numbers. After electrification, motion products and solutions are the biggest contributor to its topline –
broadly in the range of 35-37 per cent. The company has reported a topline of Rs3,559 crore in Q2 2026 (April-June). Out of this, the contribution of the motion business was Rs1,387 crore. But in the order backlog at the end of June, the segment had an upper hand vis-à-vis the electrification division, the driving segment of the company. Of the nearly Rs11,898 crore order book, motion share had stood at Rs4,889 crore, as against Rs4,863 crore of the electrification division. Apart from railway traction and auxiliary converter, it is also supplying low-voltage IEC motors to massive-scale sectors like food & beverage.
Ready with next gen
ABB India’s motion business, with motors and drives as the main offerings, is expected to occupy a more prominent position in the near-to-medium run, with positive economic tailwinds, where big-scale manufacturers may opt for new-age motors for their industrial operations. The company has been consistently adding to its low-voltage motor portfolio for the last few years by upscaling the generational offerings. In terms of prevailing policy, it is IE2 motors (high-efficiency electric motors complying with standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission), which are dominating the Indian market, but ABB is ready with the next-generation offerings stretching up to the IE5 series. At a time when the world is backing energy efficiency in a major way, the focus is shifting to low-voltage motors, resulting in less power consumption, with better operational output.
According to industry reports, here is how the upgraded versions deliver. Globally, industrial motor-driven systems account for about 60 per cent of industrial electricity demand and roughly 25 per cent of global electricity demand. Yet, 77 per cent of the industrial motors are not paired with drives and about half of the industrial motors are more than 10 years old. That creates a major upgrade opportunity. But with the adoption of new-generation (low-voltage) motors, the power losses go down by 15-20 per cent. Here is what it translates to for India. “Almost 40 per cent of the installed capacity of India’s power goes into industries,” explains Arora. “And, within industries, 60 per cent of the energy is consumed by motor-driven equipment. So, now you can visualise how important motors are when it comes to adding efficiency, as they are the main equipment. So, here, we have indigenised and localised that technology right from IE2, which is the basic standard as per the policy. But then we have also indigenised IE3, IE4, IE5 motors”. In the last five years, the division has broadly maintained a double-digit growth trajectory, both in topline and bottom line, he adds.
At present, 90 per cent of the earnings coming to the company’s kitty from the motion vertical is from domestic sales. But, while the company has begun churning out new generation motors on a selective basis from its dedicated assembly lines in India, it is waiting for a better policy environment, where there should be more focus on adoption of motors above IE2 generation. “There are many developed countries where the basic IE2 motor era is over, thanks to a serious policy push. We expect that to ultimately happen in India too,” Arora underlines. The last policy prescription was announced in 2017, when the government had put a ban on the low-efficiency induction motors IE1, making it mandatory for all stakeholders in the value chain to switch over to the next generation. But while top-tier motor manufacturers are waiting for the next-generation era to be ushered in expeditiously, analysts and industry insiders believe that it would be easier said than done. “It has serious cost implications for mid-tier manufacturers, who use these machines,” points out a senior official of a rival company. “To attain efficiency, you need to pay extra upfront and the majority of them would not be able to bear it. But the market is open for those who can be convinced to adopt them for long-term energy-saving (and capital too) benefits. There is no dearth of deep-pocketed manufacturers and players with long-term vision in India today”.
While ABB India and other top-tier players are waiting for an environment more conducive to their IE2 plus motor business, they seem to be using the opportunity to harness their production capability of this line of product. For instance, with power ratings from 45 kW to 1,000 kW, it has produced India’s first IE5 motor range built on proven induction motor technology. It is free from rare-earth metals and engineered for high performance and reliability, even in the most demanding industrial environments. Custom-engineered for Indian operating conditions, these motors operate seamlessly on both Direct-On-Line (DOL) and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), making them ideal for industries such as metals, cement, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, and paper.
Meanwhile, the company had announced early this year that a further investment of $75 million will be pumped in during 2026, as against $35 million spent in 2025, to expand its manufacturing footprint and scale up what it called ‘local-for-local’ strategy (the company says 85 per cent of products and solutions sold in the country are domestically produced). “This investment in India is an important part of our strategy to support infrastructure build-out and growth in one of our fastest-growing markets,” Morten Wierod, ABB’s CEO had commented on the occasion. “We are seeing strong demand driven by the country’s energy transition, grid modernisation, data centre development and the rapid expansion of the metro and high-speed rail segments. Our expanded facilities will ensure we meet this demand while enhancing our capabilities to serve other markets in the region.” And the local leadership confirms that a substantial part of the regular capex of the group is going into motion business (fast-growing data centres are also a new component of this strategy).