KPIT CEO calls for increased R&D, deeptech investments
KPIT CEO Kishor Patil emphasised the need for India to boost R&D investment, foster deeptech innovation, and improve export quality to compete in the global automotive sector. Highlighting geopolitical shifts and India's growth potential, he called for stronger government support, citing KPIT's own rising R&D spend and global expansion efforts.
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India needs to push investments into research and development in technology and deeptech, and boost quality exports to compete in the automotive sector , said Kishor Patil , cofounder and chief executive of mid-tier engineering and technology services firm KPIT Technologies 'If you look right now, the innovation index of India is still very extremely low; Rundefined educational reforms which are happening should help over time. And we have to build our exports…there quality will be key. It is headed in that direction but not what we need.'India's R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP was around 0.7% in 2024, compared with 2.68% in China, as per a discussion paper by government think tank NITI Aayog.According to Patil, with the ongoing geopolitical conflicts, supply chain issues hurting China, and Europe and the US being slow markets due to tariffs and other macro factors, 'India is the only market which is growing and open. So, my view is, this is the time we have to really build a very strong ecosystem.'One of the strengths of China has been the ecosystem built with support from its government, he said, adding that in India, the government needs to push infrastructure and research.An automotive-focused software services provider, KPIT has increased its own R&D investments to around 6-7% of revenue from 2-3% about five years ago, he said.During the financial year ended March 2024, KPIT spent $13.53 million on R&D as compared to $9.6 million in the previous year, as per its annual report. The FY24 spending was around 2.3% of the revenue.'For KPIT, we have a 6-7% investment into R&D, typically around 2-4% is organic and inorganically it is 2-3%,' Patil said.The Pune-headquartered company made three investments in 2023-24, worth over Rs 400 crore (around $47 million). In May this year, KPIT said it acquired US-based Caresoft Global Technologies ' Engineering solutions for up to $191 million to expand its business in the off-highway commercial vehicle segment.The company will increase investment in the off-highway commercial vehicle segment, he said. The Caresoft acquisition is for that, he said, adding that it will also open the China market for KPIT along with cost reduction to compete with China's automotive capabilities.In FY25, KPIT's revenue grew 18% to $691 million.India is the company's fastest growing market is Asia, with an around 20% market share, he said. 'Europe and the US are similar over 30% each. But India, Japan and, this year, Europe look better for us.'Patil expects the three regions to be key growth areas for the company with technologies like cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence being integral to the deal pipeline worth $280 million that the company indicated during its FY25 results announcement.
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