Diversified auto component supplier JBM Auto has opened its latest and state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Sanand, Gujarat. The Rs 200 crore plant, which will produce components like C-pillar, D-pillar, cowl top, shotgun and high level sub-assemblies, will supply to Ford India’s plant in Sanand, which has an initial capacity of 240,000 vehicles and 270,000 engines per annum.

The plant was inaugurated yesterday by Nigel Harris, president and managing director, Ford India, in the presence of S K Arya, chairman, and Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM Group, along with other dignitaries and officials from both companies.

Speaking on the occasion, Nishant Arya said, “JBM Auto has had a longstanding association with Ford India. With this new manufacturing facility in Sanand, we intend to further consolidate this association with a vision to offer the best quality products at the right time, which has been a constant strength for the JBM Group.”

“Sanand has brought in huge opportunities and promising potential for the overall auto industry and we at the JBM Group are ready to associate and be partners to this momentum of growth. This is certainly going to massively contribute towards the Make-in-India campaign,” he added.

At Sanand, investments of around Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 crore have been planned in the next 3-4 years by multiple Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and component manufacturers. Once commissioned, the region will have a combined capacity of 1.5 million passenger vehicles and 3 million two wheelers per annum. The region is slated to see additional investments of Rs 15,000 crore by fiscal 2017-18 from leading OEMs like Maruti Suzuki and Honda, thereby increasing the installed capacity of the region to 2.2 million units per annum.

The Gujarat government plans to take the share of automotive industries in its overall engineering output to 10% by 2020, from the current 3.7%.

JBM’s Sanand plant has generated employment for 500 people in the region, which includes graduates from JBM’s multiple Skill Development Centres. JBM Auto, which manufactures chassis and suspension systems, exhaust systems, welded assemblies, tools and dies, has its manufacturing facilities and tool rooms strategically located in close proximity of leading automobile hubs in India at Faridabad, Greater Noida, Nashik, Chennai, Sanand, Pune and Indore. The company’s products are widely used in two-wheelers, cars, tractors and trucks and other sectors in India and overseas.