UNO Minda’s new lighting plant to come up in Gujarat, to expand alloy wheel capacity too

The Board of directors of automotive Tier 1 supplier Minda Industries, the flagship company of the UNO Minda Group, have approved expansion plans in its two businesses – four-wheeler lighting and alloy wheels, considering the improved market scenario and increased demand, wherein the said businesses have been operating at near-capacity.

As part of the expansion plans, Minda Industries will set up a new lighting manufacturing plant at Bhagapura, Gujarat to cater to increased demand for four-wheeler automotive lighting. This will be in addition to the existing manufacturing facilities at Pune, Chennai and Manesar.

The new plant will be in located near key OEMs to achieve better logistics management. The plant will have state-of- art manufacturing facilities with unidirectional flow of material, robotic automation for unloading, motorised conveyor system which will result in better operational efficiencies.

Minda Industries says it has augmented its technical capabilities with acquisition of Delvis last year. The company also plans to tap potential export business in Europe and America in future from this plant. The Tier 1 supplier has earmarked capex of Rs 90 crore which will be funded through mix of debt and internal accruals. The plant is expected to commence operations by the quarter ending March 2022 and will stabilise in subsequent couple of quarters.

In addition, Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheel, one of the key subsidiaries of Minda Industries, will be expanding its four-wheeler alloy wheel capacity by 60,000 wheels/month at its plant in Bawal, Haryana, to cater to the increased demand. The additional capital expenditure for the capacity expansion will be Rs 167 crore. The expanded facilities are expected to commence operations by quarter ending March 2022 and expected to stabilise by June 2022.

NK Minda, chairman and MD, UNO Minda said, “The automotive lighting industry is witnessing a gradual shift in technology into more LED-based lighting products. With strengthened technical capabilities in the next level of lighting technologies, we are well positioned to benefit from these technological shifts and to achieve leadership in the segment. Similarly, in 4W alloy wheels, customer preferences are moving towards alloy wheels. Though penetration of alloy wheel has increased in last few years, however it is still very low in comparison to developed countries providing ample opportunities for our growth in future.”