Japan-head quartered Hirotec Group, which has facilities in Coimbatore and Pune in India, had invested ₹100 crore here in the last one year developing a stamping die manufacturing facility. The group, with presence in eight countries and 29 facilities, makes automotive assembly welding fixtures, hemming, stamping dies and sheet metal parts.
In Coimbatore, the group has invested ₹180 crore in the last 14 years and makes tooling for manufacture of closures for automobile industries.
Nori Uno, president of the Hirotec Group, Senthil Parthasarathy, director of Hirotec India, and Jim Toeniskoetter, CEO, Hirotec India, told the media here on Thursday that the new stamping die manufacturing facility will build sheet metal stamping dies for the Indian market.
Automobile companies in India now buy the dies mainly from countries such as China and Korea. With the India facility, the company can compete with China as the shipping cost will reduce, Mr. Toeniskoetter said.
Though the automobile sector in India faced slowdown, it is for the existing vehicles. Hirotec supplies machinery for new cars and for the models that will be upgraded, according to Mr. Parthasarathy. In the next 10 years, Hirotec will invest ₹140 crore in Coimbatore and by 2022, provide direct employment to another 100 people.
“Our confidence is very high (in the Indian market). You can see it in our investment in Gujarat and continuous investment here,” Mr. Toeniskoetter added.
In Gujarat, the Hirotec Group and Mark Exhaust are investing approximately ₹200 crore to manufacture and supply exhaust systems to Suzuki. The Gujarat facility is expected to be commissioned in March.
Hirotec India is hopeful of a turnover of ₹150 crore this year, with exports and domestic business contributing equally.
