The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) is to host  the first edition of the ACMA Aftermarket Expo in Patna. The two-day trade fair will be held on March 14-15 at the Gyan Bhawan, Samrat Ashoka International Convention Centre, Patna. It will be inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Government of India and Member of Parliament, Patna Sahib. The event is supported by ASDC, the Automotive Skills Development Council.

The first-of-its-kind aftermarket expo in the eastern region will bring together component manufacturers, spare-part sellers, dealers, workshop owners, technicians and mechanics on a common platform. Over leading 50 auto component manufacturers will showcase their latest and best aftermarket products and technologies.

According to Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA, “Apart from furthering aftermarket business in the eastern region, the expo will provide an excellent opportunity to spread awareness on the usage of genuine components and reduce the menace of counterfeits. India, with the highest number road accidents at 450,000, has one of the highest road fatalities. There is an urgent need to curb usage of non-genuine and counterfeit spare parts, which can significantly reduce road accidents. That apart, standards need to be mandated for products sold in the aftermarket so that consumers get the right quality of products to ensure safe vehicles and better usage experience.”

Highlighting key aspects of the Expo, Rama Shankar Pandey, chairman, ACMA Sub-Pillar on Aftermarket remarked, “The event will not only provide business delegates and visitors an opportunity to understand the business dynamics of aftermarket but also get an understanding of the significant technological changes taking place in the automotive industry. With Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) as a partner, complementary training sessions will be held for more than 1,000 mechanics and technicians to upgrade their skills and impart training on repairing technically sophisticated vehicles”.

Some of the leading component manufactures who have confirmed to participate in the expo include Indian Oil, Anand Automotive, Rane Group, Lumax Auto Technologies, Minda Industries, Subros, JK Fenner, Elofic, Varroc Engineering, Shriram Piston & Rings, Federal Mogul and Steelbird, among others.

The aftermarket business in Bihar and Jharkhand for auto components is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 428 million) – approximately 4.2% of the total national aftermarket of Rs 67,491 crore. There are around 155 automobile dealers, 1,000 auto component retailers and repair workshops/garages in the region concentrated in cities like Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Munger, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad. Apart from these main towns, a large number of repair workshops/ garages are situated along the national and state highways in the sub-urban and rural areas.