Ahmedabad: Auto manufacturer UNO MINDA Group has opened two new manufacturing plants in Ahmedabad, Gujarat today,said a statement issued by the company.

The two new plants namely Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheels Ltd. (MKAW) and Mindarika Pvt Ltd (MRPL) will manufacture Alloy wheels and Switches & HVAC system respectively. The plants were inaugurated by Kenichi Ayukawa, MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), along with Mr. NK Minda, Chairman & MD Minda Industries Limited (MIL).

The first plant has been set up in five-year old collaboration between MIL and Kosei Aluminium Co. Under this collaboration the first plant was setup in Chennai followed by the opening of a plant in Bawal, Haryana region. The Gujarat plant is the third. It will manufacture 60,000 alloy wheels in the first phase, which will be expanded to 120000 Wheels in near future, the company said.

Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheels plant is spread over 10 acres area with installed capacity of 60,000 wheels per month which can be expanded to120,00 wheels per month. Plant is running at full capacity according to company. It creates job opportunity for over 450 employees. The investment of join association for this plant is Rs 350 crore in full phase. Market Share of Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheels MKAW leads the passenger car segment with over 50% of the market share in Alloy Wheel, retaining no. 1 position, claims the company.

The second plant – Mindarika Pvt Ltd is spread over 5 acres with installed production capacity of 45000 switch sets per month, expandable to 60,000 switches. Plant running at full capacity will generate employment opportunity for more than 300 employees. Investment of joint association for Mindarika in Gujarat is Rs 100 crores in full phase. Mindarika claims it has a market share of 55% in Switches and HVAC system. The Gujarat plant is 4th plant of company in India. Joint Venture that has set up this plant is 25-year old. Tokai Rika is a Group Company of Toyota and is a leading player in Switches, HVAC & safety systems.

Speaking on the occasion Kenichi Ayukawa, MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, “India is an important market for automobile the industry globally. The inauguration of these production facilities is in line with the increasing demand of automotive components for OEMs in India. Gujarat is poised to become one of the biggest manufacturing hubs and these setups would generate more job opportunities and play an important role in development of this region”.

NK Minda, Chairman & MD, UNO MINDA said, “Gujarat is one of the important automotive hubs with OEM’s setting up plants in this region. Being an auto component player we believe in being in close proximity of our Customer. Commissioning of the two plants in Gujarat is an important milestone for us. With these plants we are aiming to increase production capacity of Alloy Wheels & 4 Switches to cater to the increasing demand of customers both in the domestic and international markets.”

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Shunkichi Kamiya, Chairman, Kosei Aluminium Co. said, “Our long association with UNO MINDA has been very successful so far and now coming up with the new plant is a step further towards strengthening our association. We are quite optimistic that this plant will mark another milestone in the glorious journey of our association”.

DeshGujarat