Flakt Woods to source components from India

India is no longer a market with poor quality control, says Carl Sverdrup

Flakt Woods group, one of the global leaders in industrial fans and once a part of ABB, could make India the outsourcing hub of components for global operations.

It was also examining a plan to develop its Indian subsidiary, Flakt India Ltd, as the production hub for south-east and west Asia.

Flakt Wood was owned at present by a British private equity fund called Compass.

The senior vice-president (Asia) of Flakt Woods, Carl Sverdrup, said the group will source component worth of Rs 50 crore (10 million Euro) from Indian market in 2006. The amount could rise in the future.

Sverdrup was here for the launch of new generation Centripal HK fans.

Terming India as one of the cheapest markets for sourc ing quality components, Sverdrup said the company had already set up an office in New Delhi for component outsourcing to feed global operations.

"We have identified 20 suppliers for supplying the components as India is no longer a market with poor quality control," he said. The company would source components like aluminium castings and plastics from India. "The sourcing from India will be 6-7 per cent of the total requirements of components in that category but it is likely to increase in the future," he said.

The Indian subsidiary Flakt India could well be its base for Asia as it had the biggest manufacturing facility in Asia.

Flakt India currently had two facilities - at Mahestala in West Bengal, and Chennai.

"The Indian operations offer better infrastructure than the unit in China, so the Indian operations has the possibility of becoming the Asian hub," he said.

The managing director of Flakt India, Anil R Baijal, said the company was now looking at new product lines like heating ventilation devices for expansion.

"We are expecting 20 per cent growth in this financial year," he said.

Flakt India posted turnover of Rs 60 crore in 2004.