BANGALORE: In the second phase of development, Delphi Automotive Systems has expanded its technical center operations in Bangalore. The center would be adding 200 more engineers in the next couple of years and would operate in much bigger workspace of 60,000 square feet.

As part of the expansion, Delphi’s Technical Center would also have a Mechanical Engineering Lab and would have an added seat capacity in its Electronics Lab at the Center, which would increase from the existing 28 to 74. "We are sticking to our plans of expanding our Technical Center in Bangalore and the expansion is part of the investment of $25 million which we had earmarked for the center at the time of its commissioning in December 2000," informed Ravi Khanna, Country President and Managing Director, Delphi India.

Jeffrey J Owens, Vice President, Delphi and President, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems USA says, "With this expansion the Technical Center is poised to become Delphi’s largest technical center in the world." At present the center is Delphi’s second largest technical center outside the US.

Owens informed that the present expansion at the center would bring in added product lines and competencies, as the center’s contributions to Delphi would grow steadily in the years to come. He said that with the expansion, the center’s research domain would also include system’s engineering, electrical analysis, diesel engine systems, forewarn warning systems, Instrument cluster and Energen besides the existing research domains of engine controls, Trans Controls, Power Products, Device Drivers and mechanical analysis.

According to Dr Prakash Kulkarni, Director, Delphi’s Technical Center, India the new employee intake at the center would include software, mechanical and automobile engineers and the technical center would continue to grow even further in the years to come.