Wabco lines up Rs 60 cr capex

Commerical vehicle braking systems manufacturer Wabco India Ltd on Wednesday said it was implementing a Rs 60-crore capex plan to support its business in India and to cater to exports.

Its export-oriented unit at Mahindra World City, near Chennai, would cater to the requirements of Wabco’s plants in other countries for compressor components. The outlay for the project will be around Rs 40 crore, said P Kaniapan, whole-time director of the company.

At present, the company's exports are Rs 117 crore, out of the company’s total revenue of Rs 899 crore.

The company is also in the process of setting up a braking system assembly unit at Lucknow. The facility will cater to Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. The total capacity will be around 7,000 units and the plant is scalable, he said. The assembly unit will start operations in 2012.

Wabco India is a 75 percent subsidiary of Belgium headquartered $2 billion Wabco. The company was started as a joint venture with TVS group, but in 2009 both the partners have decided to part ways.

"Wabco has the technology to go it alone at a time when the market for commercial vehicles in India is logging growth and also to start promoting the products under the global brand Wabco. Earlier the company was selling under Wabco-TVS brand," said Kaniappan.

However, Wabco India will be using distribution network of the TVS group to reach out its products to the end customer.

According to Wabco chairman and CEO Jacques Esculier, the estimated market for the company’s product per vehicle is estimated to be around $3000, while it vary from region to region.

“In India and China, the per-vehicle air braking system component content potential is around $300. We have to identify the market potential and convince a vehicle manufacturer,” he said. He said India is fast growing market and it is strategic for Wabco.