The Rajkot based auto components industry seems to have attracted major auto companies including Tata Motors, Asia Motor Works (AMW) and Peugeot once again.
At a buyer-seller meet held on Thursday in Rajkot, major auto companies evinced interest to work with auto components manufacturers from Rajkot. Organised by The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in association with Rajkot Engineering Association (REA), the meet saw participation from more than 90 companies.
"Peugeot is in the process of setting up a manufacturing unit in Gujarat and for our components requirement we will come to Rajkot. Safety and quality is priority for us and if any component manufacturer matches our requirement, we will be happy to do business with them," said Purvish Shukla, India vehicle project purchasing manager, PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Even Asia MotorWorks (AMW), which currently importing its cabin from China, is looking for increased localisation. "We have three vendors in Rajkot and as we are focusing on localisation, Rajkot seems to be the best option for us as it is nearest place from our factory," said Nagesh Azad, senior general manager - materials, AMW.
Similarly, Tata Motors also evinced interest for the region even as its officials met vendors in the CII buyer-seller meet. "We have two direct suppliers from the city and we are looking the vendors that have new technology and who can match our measurements. Further, Rajkot definitely has good potential to grow more. However, the city needs to concentrate more on quality," said Prashant Saxena, senior general manager, vendor development and procurement, Tata Motors Limited. Already, Rajkot based Bhavani Industries and Amul Industries are supplying parts to Tata for Nano. Meanwhile, according to VM Jha, deputy director, MSME development board of India, the meet will also motivate the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to produce value added products. "There are so many small manufacturers in auto components industry at Rajkot and they are growing by 15-20 percent every year," said Jha. There are 500 auto component manufacturers at Rajkot. Out of these around 50 are suppliers to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) while the remaining are small players which supply to the retail market. The industry in Rajkot produces more than 300 types of parts for the automobile industry and employs about 10,000 people. Turnover of the industry is around Rs 800-1000 crore per annum.
