New Delhi — Global fastener and cable supplier HellermannTyton Pvt. Ltd. plans to set up its first production facility in India.
The facility will be in India's automotive manufacturing hub in the city of Pune.
"We have already bought land in Pune to start building a factory by the end of 2017," said Anubhav Saxena, country manager, automotive. "The plant will likely to be fully operational by [the second quarter] of 2018.
"We believe the time has come to graduate to the next level when we have to set up a production facility to cater to the Indian market," he said, while declining to provide details about the expansion.
Currently, the company has an office in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi, where it handles sales and service for India. Saxena was interviewed at Plastasia, held July 8-11 in New Delhi.
The cable company started operation there in 2000 and continues to focus on the automotive industry. Parent company HellermannTyton plc is based in Crawley, England.
"We have started focusing on two major auto OEMs in the north and southern part of India in 2006 onwards, and over the years the auto business has grown 100 percent," Saxena said.
About 80 percent of its sales in India comes from the auto business, with the rest coming from appliance, telecommunciations and aerospace. Its automotive clientele includes global and domestic manufacturers, including Tata and Mahindra.
"With the plant coming in, the focus remains on India as it is one of biggest automobile markets in the region, but HellermannTyton envisages catering to adjoining country markets in Southeast Asia at a later stage," he said.
HellermannTyton is also a supplier of electrical cables and data network infrastructure. It has 15 manufacturing facilities and employs 4,500 worldwide.