Swedish company will invest additional Rs 180 crore for this expansion.
Swedish metal cutting tools manufacturer is planning to expand its base in India. Considering the demand for cutting tools, it is gearing up the investments in infrastructure, manpower and marketing as well as in research and development.
The company will invest additional Rs 180 crore for this expansion. Currently, the Pune R&D centre works in close association with Seco's other R&D Units in Sweden, Czech Republic and France.
Commenting on this, Anders Fager, managing director, Seco Tools India Private Limited said, "We are aiming at involving over 1500 customers across nine locations in India starting from Pune by the end of December 2011. The products being introduced this time are high on performance, precision and offer a lot of flexibility and convenience to the user at the appropriate price, thereby contributing significantly to increase productivity."
The headcount is likely to touch the figure of 700 by 2014 from the current workforce of 450 employees in India. Also, it plans to triple the manufacturing output in the coming years. Seco Tools India is the third largest production unit within the Seco Tools Group.
"Around 20 per cent of Seco Tools Group sales happen in Asia Pacific region and India is second in sales after China. Thus, our growth strategy for the Indian market is driven by expansion on the domestic front, where a special emphasis is being laid on serving the Indian customer in the best possible way with timely deliveries and daily technical and support for the customers across the country. The target is to double the sales figures by 2014," said Johan Lahiri, senior general manager, marketing. He further added that the company is not worried about the crisis in Europe as its 31 per cent business comes from Eastern Europe and 'recession' is a very harsh word to describe the situation.