Reinventing The Train

Alain Spohr, MD, Alstom India & South Asia, On How The Company Is Changing The Rules Of The Game And Continues To Invest In India

- Jayashree Kini Mendes

You have a role that involves multi-tasking in sustainable mobility, components, infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling and systems, among others. How are you managing it? It's my responsibility to maintain a balanced view on all aspects of businesses while accomplishing the company’s vision and mission both of which involves multi-tasking and strategic thinking. Having said that, while I am not new to the country and the infrastructure sector in general, leading mobility solutions was new at the beginning of my tenure. I had to adapt and learn quickly to keep up with the dynamism of the sector. Our customers in the sector demand the highest quality products and solutions and are fortunately open to recommendations from us. My personal goal in the year ahead is to establish our facilities in India as centres of excellence and push the agenda of more sustainable solutions being introduced into the country.

What are your strategies to deal with challenges of efficiency, sustainability and affordability in the Indian market?

The railway market, driven by increasing urbanisa tion, is growing steadily. In the context of globalisation and consolidation, Alstom's ambition is to be the preferred partner of its customers for their transport solutions across geographic locations and market segments. To reach this, we have set clear targets for 2020 in five strategic pillars:

Customer focused organisation: As a global player in rail transport, Alstom continues to strengthen its position in local markets to better meet the needs of its customers and seize opportunities for growth. To meet booming demand around the globe while adapting to specific considerations in the different regions in which we operate, Alstom has established a localised organisation designed to promote commercial and industrial proximity to customers and enhance operational efficiency.