Chennai-based Rane Group plans to supply auto component parts to the Tata Cummins factory in Jamshedpur from its Singur facility. The group is setting up its first manufacturing facility in Bengal at Singur as part of the vendor park for the Tata Nano. “We are exploring options to leverage our Singur facility for Nano to supply to Tata Cummins as well,” said group chairman L. Ganesh. According to Ganesh, the auto component maker will invest Rs 20 crore in the Singur unit, which will be set up on a five-acre plot. It will be ready to operate at full capacity within two years. In phase one, the factory will be built in over 600 square metres of land.
“We will have a better idea of plans in phase two by the end of this year,” said S. Parthasarathy, president of Rane Madras. The group hopes to clock a turnover of Rs 75 crore by supplying auto components for the Nano and is expected to provide employment to 350 people in the state. Rane Group will supply rack and pinion steering gears, lower control arms, steering columns and seat belts for the Nano. Of the eight companies in its fold, Rane Madras, Rane NSK Steering System and Rane TRW Steering Systems will invest in the Bengal project.
The group, which garners a majority of its turnover from power steering, manual steering, suspension systems and valve train components, is eyeing a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore this fiscal against Rs 1,365 crore last fiscal. Tata Motors contributes around 25 per cent to the company’s turnover and after the Nano, this is expected to increase by 4-5 per cent. The Rane Singur plant, where a bhoomi puja was held today, will be operational by July 2008. The auto component sector in India is estimated at around $5-6 billion, with a growth rate of over 10 per cent.
Source: The Telegraph
19th February, 2008