Hitachi invests Rs 100 crore to set up ATM making firm in India

New Delhi: Japan's Hitachi Group has set up an ATM manufacturing firm in India with an investment of Rs 100 crore to cash in on the growing number of banking users in the country.

Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions, which is globally developing the group's cash recycling ATM business, has set up Hitachi Terminal Solutions India in Bengaluru for manufacturing ATMs in the country.

The company will commence production in June and produce 1,500 ATMs per month by end of 2016, Hitachi said in a statement.

"To further accelerate the expansion of its ATM business in India, we have decided on local production," Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions President and Representative Director Tetsuji Shimojo said.

The move would allow Hitachi to accommodate the needs of the market, strengthen the cost competitiveness, shorten the production lead time from order entry to shipment and expand the business of ATMs, the company said.

Moreover, operations of the manufacturing company will contribute to job creation and economic development in India. This initiative by Hitachi is aligned to the government's 'Make in India' program, it added.

"India is one of Asia's largest ATM markets on account of the country's high economic growth rate of (around) 7 percent and because it is the world's second most populous country... The Indian ATM market is expected to continue to expand in future," the company said.

Hitachi has deployed over 5,000 units of ATM in India by 2015 and at present, there are about two lakh ATMs and CDs (Cash Dispensing ATMs) operating in the country.

The Reserve Bank is promoting a financial inclusion policy, and financial institutions are increasing their investment in facilities and services. Therefore, further growth is expected in the ATM market in the future, Hitachi said.

Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions had entered Indian market on a full-scale basis in 2010 through sales of the cash recycling ATMs.