BANGALORE: Announcing their decision to open a technical center focused on engineering services and R & D in Bangalore, General Motors said that it plans to invest around $21 million every year over the next three years in facilities and technical infrastructure for the technical center

The technical center will focus on engineering and research and development work in support of GM's global portfolio and supply engineering services to all the centers across the globe. Engineering will conduct projects for export in critical areas such as CAD, CAE and CAM. R & D will focus on high value R & D work to complement current research programs and undertake new exploratory research projects.

The R & D will focus on high value R & D work to complement current research programs and undertake new exploratory research projects. The focus is on math-based tools, lightweight materials, robust manufacturing processes, automotive electronics and controls systems and manufacturing enterprise and management science.

The technology that they would be working on would be in the area of embedded software, Real time systems and other futuristic technologies.

According to Aditya Vij, president and managing director, GM India, the company plans to employ around 260 engineers and scientists in a ramp up operations spread over 12-18 months.

"The technical center will bring GM India into GM's global engineering network. We are now able to engage the high quality, skilled Indian engineering talent to help support our global portfolio," said John Cohoon, executive director, GM Global Engineering, Detroit.

GM has tied up with several software giants like TCS, HCL, Wipro and academic and research institutions like the IITs and IISc to conduct research in automotive and manufacturing areas.