Chennai Feb. 26 Mahindra & Mahindra, Renault and Nissan today announced a joint venture to produce cars at a new plant near Chennai, at an investment of Rs 4,000 crores. The plant, which will produce models for all the three partners, will have a capacity to produce 400,000 cars and utility vehicles, as well as power train for Renault and Nissan, officials of the joint venture said at a press conference here today.

Equity capital

While Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will hold half of the equity capital of the yet-to-be-christened joint venture company, Renault and Nissan will share the balance, most probably equally. The joint venture will be limited to manufacturing; while the Mahindra-Renault models will be distributed through M&M's network, Nissan will set up its own marketing channel, Mr Rajesh Jejurikar, Managing Director, Mahindra Renault, said.

Phase I capacity

The plant is to come up on a 1,100-acre land at Oragadam, south of Chennai, (not far from the Hyundai car plant) and Phase I with a capacity of 4,00,000 vehicles will be commissioned by the second half of 2009, officials said.

The Caparo group's new plant at Oragadam on the outskirts could signal the city's expansion into the aerospace. "We are confident that with the knowledge base and talent pool available here, it will become a hub for aerospace components and manufacturing as it already is for automotives. We believe we can attract aerospace OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] and bring them here," said Angad Paul, chief executive of the U.K.-based Caparo Group after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to invest Rs 300 crore in a 100-acre site at the Oragadam SIPCOT industrial complex.

The new plant will manufacture tubular parts for the automotive and aerospace industries, automotive braking systems, fasteners and composite materials. It is likely to start production in a year. The plant is owned by the newly-formed Caparo Vehicle Products India and is expected to generate 2,000 jobs, including direct employment for 850 people.

Admitting that "aerospace is still a small fraction of Caparo's business," Mr. Paul, however, said it is set to change. "In a 10 to 15-year horizon, I would like to see our aerospace business equal auto, because it's higher in value. The rate of growth of aerospace will outstrip auto," he predicted. Caparo's existing aerospace clients include jet engine manufacturers such as Rolls Royce and Pratt & Whitney, but the group has already started dealing with Boeing through its sub-suppliers and plans to supply Airbus soon.

The group's Tamil Nadu operations have a major role in these ambitious plans, with the Oragadam site signalling a move from mere components to sub-assemblies and systems engineering. Caparo could set its sights even wider. "That's why it's called Caparo `Vehicle' Products, because the same facilities should be available for all forms of transport technologies: auto, aerospace and maritime. If rail starts growing in India, we could look at supplying that sector as well... from rail carriages to the actual engineering," said Mr. Paul.

The Caparo group has already invested Rs. 300 crore in an auto component manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, which will start production in April. When running at full production levels, Mr. Paul expects sales worth Rs. 1,000 crore a year from each plant. He did not rule out a third plant in Tamil Nadu. "We are loyal players. Once we are committed to a place, we keep on exploring opportunities in the same area," he said.

Major capacity expansion to 30,000 MT with addition of 4 Press lines and expansion of machining lines. Launching High Performance Organization at Plant 4. in Padappai

MM Forgings has the expertise in forging wide variety of components. The company is flexible to volumes and we intend to provide one stop shop for our customers with value added services.MM Forgings manufactures steel forgings in raw, semi-machined and fully machined stages in various grades of Carbon, Alloy, Micro-Alloy and Stainless Steels in the weight range of 0.20 Kg to 60 Kg.The Company caters to the forging requirements of almost all sections of industry.MM Forgings is a major player in closed die forgings. Most of forgings are exported to North American and European markets to major OEMs and Tier 1 Companies. We forge anything and everything in the range of 300 kg to 60 kg. MM Forge has the necessary equipments and technology to cater to the needs of its customers.

MM Forgings has a battery of 10 hammers with capacities ranging from 0.75T to 6.0T. We have both friction drop hammers (belt type) and air hammer. Hammers are used to produce jobs with difficult profiles and lower volumes. Moreover the selection of press or hammer is decided by our engineering team after analyzing the production feasibility and economic viability.MM Forgings has a battery of forging presses in the range of 1600T to 4000T. All our presses are equipped with Induction billet heaters and infrared pyrometers for accurate temperature control.

Chennai March 28 Komatsu India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd of Japan, has set up a Rs 50-crore plant for producing off highway dump trucks, at Oragadam, near Chennai. The plant was inaugurated today by the Mr M.K. Stalin, Minister for Local Administration, Tamil Government.

This is Komatsu's second production base in India. The first one is in Bangalore, a 50:50 joint venture with L&T, which makes hydraulic excavators. The Oragadam facility will produce dump trucks, used mainly in moving earth, ores and minerals at mines, in two capacities— 50 tonnes and 100 tonnes. The plant has come up on an area of 2,40,000 sq metres at the SIPCOT Industrial park, Oragadam. Initially, the plant will produce about 200 units a year. Most of the components will come from abroad. Work on the plant commenced last May and at present, trial production is going on.

Komatsu India has a paid-up equity capital of Rs 74.5 crore and is entirely held by the Japanese parent. A press release from Komatsu said the company anticipated good demand for dump trucks, driven mainly by mining of coal (thanks to the growth in the power sector), production of iron ore and other non-ferrous metals.

Chennai: Rotary diesel fuel injection pump manufacturer Delphi TVS Diesel Systems Limited will soon start construction work for its new common rail diesel injection (CRDI) plant at Oragadam, near Chennai.

The 2.5-lakh unit plant, the company's third factory, being put up at an investment of Rs350 crore is expected to start commercial production at the end of this calendar year. The plant will also make common rail components for exports. "We have taken possession of the 40 acres (cost around Rs8 crore) where the new plant will come up," says vice president finance and company secretary, M N Subramanian. In addition, the plant will also manufacture unit pump common rail to be fitted in three and four wheeler engines. The pump will make the BS 3 and Euro IV complaint engines.

Meanwhile the company's newly built facility at Pantnagar in Uttaranchal will shortly go on stream. The Rs30-crore plant will manufacture 2.25 lakh rotary fuel injection systems mainly for Tata Ace, the small goods carrier from Tata Motors Limited. "At Uttaranchal plant we will also manufacture mechanical unit pump for single and two cylinder engines," says president J S Chopra. The company developed mechanical unit pumps for BS 3 compliant engines in close association with Delphi Diesel Systems.

According to Chopra the company will also make unit pump common rail and mechanical unit pumps at its existing Mannur facility near Chennai. With the decline of the rotary fuel injection systems in Europe, Delphi TVS is the global source for Delphi Diesel Systems' customers of rotary pumps. The Indian company would be supplying rotary pump system to meet the requirements of Delphi's global customers. The turnover from these exports is expected to be Rs50 crore.

NSK and ABC Establishes Joint Venture Company in India

NSK Ltd. (NSK; Headquarter: Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Seiichi Asaka) and ABC Bearings Limited (ABC; Headquarter: Mumbai, India; Managing Director: Pradip Patel) are pleased to announce that they have reached a basic agreement to form a Joint Venture Company (the JV Company) to manufacture bearings for the automotive industry, targeting mainly Japanese and other transplant customers.

Since 1998, ABC and NSK have maintained a good relationship, with NSK providing technical support in the production of bearings. Against the background of rapid economic growth in India, both companies decided to form the JV Company to produce bearings in order to meet the demands of the automotive industry. For NSK, this joint venture is an opportunity for increasing sales to Japanese and foreign automotive manufacturers in India. For ABC, this provides new opportunities to increase sales to their existing customers for those ranges of bearings which are not manufactured by them.

Apollo Tyres Ltd plans to set up a Rs 520-crore automobile tyres manufacturing plant near Chennai. According to a Tamil Nadu Government press release, the company has entered into an agreement with the State Government to set up the project, which would generate employment for over 2,000 persons. The 135-acre facility is to come up at the Oragadam Industrial Park promoted by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) near Kanchipuram on the Chennai-Bangalore route.The agreement was signed by Apollo Tyres Chairman and CEO, Mr Onkar S. Kanwar, and the Tamil Nadu Industries Secretary, Mr Shaktikanta Das, in the presence of the Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi.

The company will make car, bus and truck tyres at the facility. Apollo Tyres, which is developing the technology for bus and truck radial tyres indigenously, will apply this technology at the facility, the release said. The New Delhi-based tyre manufacturer has factories in Kerala, Pune and Gujarat. It recently acquired two Dunlop tyre plants in South Africa and two in Zimbabwe. He said "the radial technology which will be used, is currently being developed by us in Apollo, using our internal R&D expertise. This fresh capacity will allow us to produce technology products across categories for both the OE (original equipment) and replacement markets." The release said that the Tamil Nadu unit would be used exclusively for manufacturing truck, bus and light truck radial tyres, along with high and ultra-high performance passenger car radial tyres for the domestic and export markets.

Sundaram Auto Components Limited, Plastics Division was established in 1988. Over the years the Company has grown substantially and caters to wide customer base and has proved its credentials as a total solution provider for injection molded plastic components. The manufacturing facilities are a state of art unit, equipped with electronically controlled injection molding machines capable of delivering high consistency. Sundaram Auto Components Limited – Plastic Division, Engineering team is equipped with latest version of CAE / CAD / CAM facilities for product development to meet the demanding needs of its customers. Sundaram Auto Components Limited – Plastic division is accredited with ISO TS16949, OHSAS 18001, & ISO 14001.

Sales turn over : 04 -05 65crores (USD 15 million)

Products / Services

Plastics division has built its expertise over the years by extending services to different industrial segments such as Automotive, Electrical and Electronics, Appliances and Entertainment. Sundaram Auto Components Limited – Plastics divisions engineering solutions include:- Product design engineering, Prototype development, Tool development, Project Management, Component manufacturing – Injection Moulding, Assembly of modules

Sri Krishna Engineering College is founded in 1999 by the far sighted vision of its illustrious Chairman, Thiru R. Vivekanandhan. The Sri Krishna Educational Trust started in the year 1998 provides financial assistance for the growth and development of the institution. The academic activities of the college are guided by a governing council whose Chairman is Dr.P.Sivalingam, the founder Vice Chancellor of Anna University, The others members of the council are Dr. R.Subramniam, Executive Director, VHERDS, Dr.Sushil.K.Verma, Director General CIPET and a few others drawn from the managing trust.

The Advisor of the college is Prof.Dr.P.Ananthakrishnan, Ph.D. He was a former professor of Anna University and he has guided more than 25 Ph.D.students.He has published more than 200 research papers in national and international journals. He has visited several foreign countries. He was a visiting professor in Dony-A-University, Pusan, South Korea. The college is affiliated to Anna University and is approved by All India Council for Technical Education. It is located in a sprawling 29 acre land at Panapakkam on the Tambaram, Kancheepuram Road, Just 10 kms from Vandalur railway gate.

The Tamil Nadu Government will set up an export centre for electronic goods. This will come up on 285 acres of land at Oragadam, to the west of Chennai, and will attract an investment of Rs 1,300 crore. Announcing this in the Assembly today, the Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, who also holds the industries portfolio, said that the centre to be set up by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu, a government agency, would create 23,000 jobs. It would be in the vicinity of a high tech centre set up in Sriperumbudur, where companies such as Motorola, Dell, Samsung and Foxconn are putting up plants.

GKN Driveline India will begin supplies of sideshafts to the Toyota Corolla which will be launched later this year, said Managing Director, GKN Driveline, Rajendra Ojha. He was speaking on the sidelines of a recent press meet to announce plans for a new plant near Chennai, which will be company’s fourth facility. Ojha said the decision to build the new unit at Oragadam was motivated by the fact that Hyundai, one of GKN Driveline’s key customers is doubling capacity to 600,000 units.

The new plant, that will come up in the SIPCOT area will have an initial capacity of 330,000 vehicle sets which will be ramped up to 600,000 units by 2009. Top sources said the company has the potential to expand the capacity of the new unit to one million sets. In addition, the plant will have an inhouse R&D testing facility. The company is slated to make five variants of the vehicle sets in the initial phase of production, sources said. GKN Drivelines will invest an estimated Rs 115 crore in the new facility that will begin production in January 2008. While assembly of the parts is expected to begin by October 2007, machining and testing will begin by December. The expansion is being funded through internal resources. Currently, GKN Driveline has three units at Faridabad, Dharuhera and Gummidipondi.

Once the new unit becomes operational, GKN Driveline will shift its base from Goomidipondi to the new unit. Plans to build the Oragadam units have also been motivated by the fact that there was limited scope for expansion at the current South India plant which apart from Hyundai Motor also caters to Ford India. GKN Driveline counts almost all car makers in the country as its clients. With the addition of the 240 L Corolla that debuts next year, the company will add another key player to its portfolio. The company has also kicked off talks with Mahindra-Renault-Nissan and is also working with Tata Motors on the Rs one lakh car.

GKN Driveline has been in India since the 1980s with the first plant at Faridabad being built in 1989. This was followed by the Gummidipoondi facility in 1996 and the Dharuhera facility in 1997. The Gummidipoondi unit which employs just 26 people assembles parts that have been sent here from the Faridabad unit.

GKN Driveline is s single sources supplier to all carmakers except Maruti and Tata Motors. Maruti accounts for 41 percent of the company’s business followed by Hyundai Motor India, 29 percent and Tata Motors, 11 percent. In its India innings, According to Ojha, the company has been able to improve the certification base of its suppliers, and three years ago, launched lean manufacturing at its plants. At present, the UK-based GKN Driveline has a 97 percent equity stake in the company.

GKN Driveline accounts for 40 percent of all constant velocity sideshafts manufactured worldwide and 21 percent of propeller shafts. The parent company is also a world leader in powder parts production and metal substrates for catalytic converters.It makes three kinds of propeller shafts including those made of steel and aluminium and three-piece propeller shafts. GKN Drivelines’ turnover in 2006 was £3.6 billion. GKN Driveline also supplies take-off shafts and wheels designed for off-highway applications and composite structures for the aerospace industry.

In India, the company’s turnover was Rs 292 crore in calendar 2006 and net profits were Rs 43 crore. The company in India has a small export portfolio which includes drive shafts to Turkey and in terms of models, for the Getz that Hyundai exports from its unit near Chennai. The company also exports some parts to Mazda, GM

Sanmina-SCI Corporation, a leading global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu, selecting Oragadam, near Chennai, as the location for Sanmina-SCI's first state-of-the-art manufacturing technology campus in India. The campus, when completed, will provide leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the medical, defence and aerospace, communications, automotive, and multimedia and consumer markets with cutting-edge manufacturing services that are especially tailored to the exacting technical and quality requirements of these market segments.

The company formally launched its operations in India in the presence of Shaktikanta Das, Industries Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, on July 19, 2007.

Located at Oragadam near Chennai, Sanmina-SCI's campus will cover approximately 100 acres and will be a designated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as defined by the Government of India regulations. Sanmina-SCI will initially invest $ 50 million in the new facility. The new campus will strengthen Sanmina-SCI's global manufacturing strategy enabling the company to better serve the growing Indian market as well as provide another source of cost-competitive technology products to Sanmina-SCI's customers around the world. In a phased manner, Sanmina-SCI's existing activities in Chennai (at the Madras Export Processing Zone), such as engineering, supply chain management and IT services, will relocate to the Oragadam campus, enabling the company to offer its customers a comprehensive range of services from an integrated campus.

"Today's announcement reiterates Sanmina-SCI's long-term commitment to the Indian marketplace and our commitment to support our customers with innovative technology and advanced manufacturing solutions in key locations around the world," said Hari Pillai, president of Global EMS Operations, Sanmina-SCI. "The long-term opportunities in the fast-growing Indian market are very attractive. We look forward to joining with the people and Government of Tamil Nadu as we embark on this new phase of our presence in India. We are very pleased to make this announcement and today celebrate this important milestone with our employees and customers."

"As one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world, India is emerging as an economic powerhouse that is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the next few years," said Kumaran Subramaniam, managing director of Sanmina-SCI India. "India is both a source of skilled, technical talent and an attractive market that is expected to become one of the major global players of the 21st century. Sanmina-SCI's decision to establish a strong presence in India reaffirms the long-term significance of this important market". Shaktikanta Das said the Union government had approved the setting up of the Oragdam Hi-Tech SEZ.

Sanmina-SCI would be the first company to be a part of the SEZ. Sanmina-SCI had been allotted 100 acres of the 350-acre Oragadam SEZ, he added. The Oragadam plant of Sanmina-SCI would be a large unit on a par with its Mexico plant, Shaktikanta Das disclosed.

US-based Momentive Performance Materials Inc (formerly GE Advanced Materials) will pump in $20 million in a greenfield manufacturing facility and a technology centre for application development at Orgadam near Chennai. The new manufacturing facility, which will be located in Sipcot Oragadam Industrial Growth Centre, will triple the silicone production capacity in the region, according to a company statement. “The new plant reflects Momentive’s long standing commitment to customers in India and south Asia. It will augment our existing capabilities to better serve customer needs for high quality speciality materials and supports our customers’ growth in India,” said Ian Moore, president and chief executive officer - Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, Momentive.

The new manufacturing unit, which will produce a full range of silicone products, is expected to become operational by the second half of 2008. The plant design and engineering integrate the most efficient process and product technology capabilities that exist among the various Momentive plants around the world. Momentive has 25 manufacturing units across the globe. In January, the company said it would set up a new unit considering the strong growth in India over the last few years in the backdrop of the boom in automobiles and telecom sectors.

Momentive has been growing at a rate of over 30 per cent in principal markets like India over the last few years. The company caters to automotive, telecom, construction and textiles in India. Its clients include Hyundai and tier I telecom manufacturers like Foxconn.