ACMA to host first-ever aftermarket expo in North East India this month

The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has announced the  first 'ACMA Aftermarket Expo – North East'.

The expo, which is being organised under the aegis of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, government of India, will be held on November 26-27 at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati. The show is also being supported by the Guwahati Motor Parts Traders Association (GMTA), ACMA’s MoU partner for facilitating business development in North Eastern India, and the Federation of All India Automobile Spare Part Dealers’ Association (FAIASPDA).

According to Vinnie Mehta, director general, ACMA, “The first edition of ACMA Aftermarket Expo – North East aims to provide an opportunity to various component manufacturers to tap into the huge aftermarket in the North-East region that is expected to cross Rs 2,000 crore by 2016-17. Over 100 component manufacturers will showcase aftermarket products and technologies, while more than 1,500 distributors and traders from across the seven North Eastern Indian States are expected to participate in the Expo. Several business visitors are also expected from neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh.”

An estimated 155 automobile dealers, 2,000 auto component retailers and 1,800 repair workshops and garages are concentrated in the North-East region in cities such as Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar, Tinsukhia, Tezpur, Shillong, Dimapur, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Itanagar, Agartala and Gangtok.

Ratan Goyal, president, GMTA said, “We are glad to partner with ACMA for the first ACMA Aftermarket Expo – North East. This partnership will help evolve the distribution channel into an organised sector and will also facilitate reduction in the menace of counterfeit parts in the region”

Huge demand for aftermarket parts in North East India

The North East region of India has a heavy dependence on roads which are the primary mode of transportation for passengers and goods, as the connectivity through the railways is poor. Moreover, the wear and tear of vehicles due to the hilly terrain, heavy rainfall and poor roads in the remote areas leads to a faster replacement cycle of components.

Therefore, given the current condition of the region, there is a huge demand for aftermarket parts such as brake and clutch parts, pistons, valves, oil seals, tyres, shock absorbers, leaf springs, wiper arm blades, among others. Looking at this huge upside opportunity, the Expo will serve as a perfect platform for both manufacturers as well as sellers/dealers/workshop owners to interact and explore synergies for this unexplored high demand aftermarket.

The government has proposed to build a multi-mode Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor  that includes a highway from China to Bangladesh through Myanmar and India. This will originate from Kolkata and will cross through Guwahati before entering Bangladesh. With such infrastructural developments, Guwahati will soon become a major sourcing ground for auto components servicing domestic demand from neighbouring states and eventually for exports.

Currently, India’s North-East region has an estimated one-million vehicle parc accounting for 1.7% of the total vehicle population in the country. Two-wheelers account for 50%, passenger vehicles for 16% and trucks for 14% of the total vehicles registered in the North East. While the auto component aftermarket is estimated at Rs 1,737 crore for the entire North East Region, which is 4.4% of the total market in India. Below is a break-up of the potential market for spare parts amongst various vehicle categories.

The Indian auto component industry registered a turnover of Rs 255,635 crore in 2015-16, growing by 8.8 percent while exports grew by 3.5 percent to Rs 70,996 crore. The overall aftermarket in the country stood at Rs 44,600 crore in 2015-16, growing 12 percent over the previous year.

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