Wheels India commences supply of suspension parts to Railways

: TVS Group company Wheels India today said it has commenced supply of suspension parts to the Indian Railways for use in LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches.

The city based company also said it had plans to widen its customer base across the products it manufactures and reduce the cyclical impact of the segments it supplies to.

"Wheels India has started supplying bogie suspension parts for LHB coaches to the Integral Coach Factory.

We plan to start supplies to other railway factories in the coming year and see a strong demand from Railways for the next two to three years", company chairman S Ram said at the company's 59th Annual General Meeting here today.

The company,which also serves the construction and mining equipment sectors, hoped that the increased demand witnessed last year would continue in the coming years, Ram said.

On the forged aluminium wheels business, he said Wheels India was focused on export of forged aluminium wheels for trucks and trailors.

"In the latter part of the year, we expect this business to show good growth after new capacities are in place".

On the company's upcoming factory in Gujarat,being set up in association with Japan-based TOPY Industries, company Managing Director Srivats Ram said "TOPY is the leading wheel manufacturer in Japan for the car industry".

"Being aligned with them, we get into new models that these Japanese manufacturers introduce in the country", he said.

He said the company was also working with TOPY industries on export of wheels to South East Asia to serve their Japanese customers.

On the company's presence in the windmill industry, Ram said the domestic market for windmill business was "seeing a recovery.

"Wheels India is also working with its customers for export of components", he said.

On the air suspension business, he said the company recorded a full year of production of lift axle systems for multi-axle vehicles in the 2017-18 fiscal.

"With a move towards heavier duty vehicles, we expect this volume to grow in the coming year", he said.