'When it comes to energy distribution, we are India’s backbone,' says Siemens' Matthias Rebellius

Nearly two centuries ago, a 30-year-old inventor named Werner von Siemens set up shop in an inner courtyard behind a building on Berlin’s Schöneberger Strasse. His first idea was a new design for the pointer telegraph. The company he set up has gone on to become a multibillion-dollar engineering conglomerate by the name of Siemens AG that recently celebrated 175 years at Berlin’s Siemensstadt Square, which is touted to be the German capital’s district of the future. While Siemens now focusses on industry, infrastructure, transport and healthcare, according to Matthias Rebellius—CEO of Smart Infrastructure and Member of the Managing Board at Siemens AG—it is a technology company. In an interaction with Business Today’s Tech Editor Aayush Ailawadi in Berlin, 57-year-old Rebellius talks about India’s smart cities project, EVs, the company’s plans in India and why the country is important for Siemens. Edited excerpts:

Q: It’s interesting that you refer to Siemens as a technology company, because we tend to associate Siemens with hardware and engineering…

A: First of all, we have always been a technology company. I think, the term ‘technology company’ has changed over time. And we have no reason to shy away from calling ourselves a ‘technology company’. We are amongst the top 10 software companies [in the world]. We have huge competence in areas that are important for the world. And therefore, I think we are one of the most important technology companies [now]. We are perhaps not a software company or an internet company, but one of the most relevant technology companies [in the world].

Q: What is your focus in India, given that the country is witnessing an infrastructure boom?

A: For Siemens, India is a very important market. When we talk about urbanisation, India will also undergo one of the largest urban transformations we have seen in the world. So, India is important because of the urbanisation and the huge number of smart cities being created. Then [there is] the energy transformation from coal to renewables, though the commitment to [do so by] 2070 is later than the others in terms of net zero targets. It’s an important market with investments in infrastructure, and Siemens is also investing.

But this is not new for Siemens. We have 28,000 employees in India and it’s one of our largest set-ups. In the past five years, we spent €1 billion on capex in India. And this is investing for the future. This is also proof that India is very important for Siemens, and I know, Siemens is also important for India. If I’m not mistaken, 100 per cent of the energy that’s transmitted in India somehow goes through Siemens’ veins, so to say. So, when it comes to distribution, we are the backbone of the energy system in India. And, this is now becoming even more important as we make distribution smarter and more intelligent.

Q: In India, there is a mission to go electric. In terms of what Siemens does, are there solutions that can make India’s electric revolution more efficient and successful?

A: EV (electric vehicles) is a huge trend and it is growing exponentially in India. That then needs charging infrastructure; charging infrastructure needs low- and medium-voltage grids to be updated and this again needs smarter grids and smarter charging solutions to make this [possible]. You also cannot upgrade all the systems at the same time... that means, to bridge this until infrastructure upgrades are in place, it requires a lot more intelligent solution. What we call, for example, load management, charging as a service and fleet management. We also do this with bus depots and trucking companies, especially for last-mile delivery vehicles. In India, we are working in close collaboration with Ashok Leyland at [its subsidiary bus manufacturer] Switch Mobility.

Q: In India, there’s also a big push for smart cities. But from the perspective of technology, we haven’t seen as much happen as we had expected. After Siemens’s work in the smart city projects of Aspern and Siemensstadt, are there any lessons that we can learn whilst modernising some of our older cities? Are ‘hybrid cities’ the way forward?

A: Yes. We are living in a hybrid world. Hybrid is most likely one of the most used words today. We have hybrid meetings, hybrid cars and we also have hybrid energy supply systems, and also hybrid cities, which I think is a good term. And, that shows us that they [the smart cities] are evolving. From my perspective, when I talk to Indian officials, I say that we have to first work on the fundamentals. You need to invest in the grid infrastructure of the country, the medium-voltage grid. Of course, [power] generation is another topic… it’s a political discussion with coal and non-coal [sources] and what is good and what is bad. I think every country will have to decide on its own based on what its capability is. But increasing the share of renewables—which is also what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised—is definitely the right step in the long term. To do this, you need to invest in infrastructure—the government needs to invest in infrastructure. This [the investment] needs to go down to the low-voltage system, where you need more transparency [as well]. Let’s say smart meters—they let you know where the consumption is, and where you can steer the consumption and generation, giving more visibility to the low-voltage grid.

When we talk to medium-voltage distribution grid operators, up to now, they didn’t have a view on the low-voltage part of the grid… it was just a wide spot. That’s because, there was no access. Also, it was not important, because all of the generation and the major access points were on the medium-voltage and high-voltage side. Now, all the [EV] charging points are below 1,000 volts. They’re all on the low-voltage side, and they have huge fluctuations. So, we have a higher volatility on the low-voltage grid… If you have high volatility in a wide spot, how can you manage your overall grid? This [low-voltage grid] is an area companies need to work on. And, once we have got this right, then we can talk about making cities smarter.

Q: Another hot topic in India is the launch of 5G services. It is being touted as a game-changer for industry. But when 4G was launched in India, everyone spoke about its potential with smart cities and how IoT would change everything. Do you really think 5G will disrupt industry in a monumental way?

A: That’s a good question. At that time [when 4G was launched], there were already many smart city projects in this country [Germany]... all these use cases could have also been done with 4G, but they weren’t... [and that’s probably because some] pre-conditions hadn’t been fulfilled to bring them [smart cities] to the next level. If you try to take the third step before the first two, that is a problem. I cannot judge if Indian infrastructure is advanced enough to leverage 5G, but it definitely has value when it comes to autonomous driving. [But] that to my knowledge is not the most important topic in the cities in India. [5G is also required] for machine connectivity in the industrial space… but then, that’s not a public 5G network, it’s generally a private 5G network on an industrial campus. Siemensstadt will definitely have a 5G network where all IoT devices, individuals and cars would be connected.

Q: In the tech world, there seems to be a battle for top talent. Does Siemens have to compete with IT companies to attract and retain talent?

A: We are an IT company, especially in India. We have more than 10,000 software developers globally, and I think more than half of them (6,000) are in India. We are, by size and by [the number of] engineers, one of the top 10 software companies in the world. We have our tech centres in Bengaluru and Pune. We have engineers working [there] who support global businesses in the US, Germany, France and the Middle-East, [among other places].

It’s a fact that we are competing with tech companies and the question is how do we win this game? That’s where ‘technology with a purpose’ comes into play. It is very difficult for us to get talent from universities because they [usually go for] the tech companies… But once they’ve had [work] experience of three to four years, or if we are able to connect [with them] earlier and they then see what Siemens does, they are very likely to stay with us, because they [will] like the purpose [we have].

What do we do with our data analytics capabilities? We make trains more effective and safer—we bring more trains on the same track, which cuts a lot of carbon dioxide [emissions]; we optimise buildings and make them more resilient and smarter. Or, we make the production better and we bring production into the country. So, there are a lot of things that resonate, and this is the part on which we can compete with the other tech companies [to attract and retain talent]. 

@aayush_a6