GANDHINAGAR, INDIA — Tokyo-based Japan Steel Works Ltd. is considering setting up an injection press manufacturing plant in India, a senior JSW executive said at Plastindia.
Kazuo Kitamura, managing executive officer of JSW's machinery business division, told Plastics News that the company would like to be in the market in the next few years.
“We would likely take between three to five years in entering India, and might be before that if the scenario develops positively,” he said. “Currently the Indian market is controlled largely by hydraulic and hybrid press makers. Our expertise is in the electric injection molding press manufacturing.”
The company has some preliminary investment targets, he said: “We might invest around $5 million in the India plant with initial plant capacity of about 50 presses per month.”
Almost 50 percent of the company's global production is consumed by the automobile sector, and JSW said it sees potential in the Indian auto market.
He suggested the company was still studying whether to enter with a joint venture partner or on its own, and he said the company is strongly considering the state of Gujarat for any operation as it houses a sizable part of India's plastics industry.
Plastindia was held from Feb. 5-10 in Gandhinagar.
