Minda Katolec to set up new plant in Chakan

Home-grown Minda Industries, which recently struck a joint venture with Japan’s Katolec Corporation for a 51-49 percent equity partnership in Minda Katolec Services, is to set up the new plant in Maharashtra.

The new company, which would specialise in box build assemblies and printed circuit boards (PCBs), has identified its plant location in the Chakan industrial belt, near Pune. Construction is planned to commence from May this year.

Parent UNO Minda Group is looking at this Rs 40 crore investment project as a capability enhancement opportunity, which would enable it to get accustomed to the PCB segment, once manufacturing begins in April 2018.

Minda Katolec will have 75 percent of its customer base within the Minda Group, with major ones being Fujitsu Ten, which would see incorporation of these PCBs in the infotainment systems it produces. Similarly, the Group’s acquired company in the automotive lighting space, Rinder, will also benefit from these electronic devices in its LED headlamp portfolio.

Minda Industries has an existing operation for electronics manufacturing in Pune in its SAC (Sensors, Actuators & Controllers) Division which currently caters to two- and four-wheeler customers like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto, among others.