The RSB Group, which has an ongoing collaboration with Eugen Klein GmbH, Germany and Jidosha Buhin Kogyo Co. Ltd. (JBK), Japan, for manufacture of technologically advanced propeller shafts, is setting up a manufacturing unit for the component in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

Recently, S K Behera, vice-chairman and MD, RSB Group, inked a pact with the Andhra Pradesh Government in the presence of Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, to set up a state-of-art facility at an investment of Rs 60 crore. The all-new plant will manufacture the latest generation of propeller shafts to cater to South India-based OEMs like Isuzu Motors, Ashok Leyland and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.

According to Behera, RSB is a market leader in propeller shafts and caters to leading OEMs. This new plant will help boost RSB’s market share in catering to the commercial vehicle, light commercial vehicle and SUV segments.

The RSB Group, which set up operations in 1975, is today a multi-product, multi-locational global engineering enterprise with 13 state-of-the-art manufacturing plants spread across 7 locations in India:  Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Dharwad (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Cuttack (Orissa) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh); and one each in Homer (USA), Silao (Mexico) and partnered venture  at Brazil, with cumulative employment base of more than 4,000 persons.

RSB also won the coveted Deming Prize in 2013.