Uno Minda's upcoming INR 400 crore facility will cater to the growing lighting demand in the Indian market. To be commissioned over five years, the group will first invest INR 260 crore, with the balance following for expansion.
Nirmal K Minda, Chairman & MD, Uno Minda, said there were are no plans to cater to the international market as the demand from the Indian auto sector was enough to use the capacity of the upcoming plant. 'The plant will be dedicated to making lighting products for passenger vehicles. We expect good growth in PV sales in India,' he added.
While the group already supplies lighting products to Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Mahindra, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Tata, Stellantis and a host of other carmakers, it did not confirm which specific OEMs it would be catering to from the new plant. There was also no indication on the location of this facility. All Sunil Bohra, Chief Financial Officer, Uno Minda, said was: 'We are in talks with four different Indian states, and will announce the name soon.'
67th Manufacturing Facility
Once set up, this will be the group's 67th facility in India. 'It might get difficult for us to maintain and operate so many plants in India. We will look to merge many of our existing units with the one we are building now,' he said. Uno Minda has six facliites overseas.
Bohra said the average ticket size of kits supplied is increasing as a result of more electrical and electronic components. The company has also recently created a battery-swap pilot for Bajaj Auto where it helped the latter solve IT and software parts.
Previously, the group had announced an investment of INR 300 crore in expanding its alloy wheels and switch-making capacities. Minda Kosei Aluminum Wheel, one of the subsidiaries, will be expanding its 4W alloy wheel capacity by 60,000 wheels to 240,000 units per month at its plant in Bawal, Haryana.
The group recently posted its highest-ever quarterly performance with revenue of INR 2,877 crore in the second quarter against INR 2,114 crore. It's EBITDA was INR 318 crore vis-à-vis INR 228 crore in Q2 FY '22, a growth of 40% Y-o-Y. Profit before tax was INR 208 crore, up from INR 134 crore in Q2 FY '22.
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