TVS Motor, Sundaram Clayton to invest Rs. 770 crore in Hosur

TVS Motor and Sundaram Clayton Limited (SCL), part of the $5-billion TVS Group, together are planning to invest around Rs 770 crore in their facilities at Hosur in Tamil Nadu. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect is expected to be signed with the Tamil Nadu government shortly, according to sources. Meanwhile, TVS Motor has pumped an additional $5 million into its Indonesian subsidiary – PT TVS Motor Company, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s data. When contacted, a TVS Motor Company spokesperson declined to comment saying that “the company is currently in a silent period.” Officials of Sundaram Clayton were unavailable for comment. SCL is one of the largest auto components manufacturing and distribution group in India. It is a leading supplier of aluminium die castings to the automotive and non-automotive sector. Recently, the company has said that it had received new orders from companies like Daimler and that the new orders accounted for 10-12 per cent of its total business. The company has witnessed good volume growth – from 32,000 tonne last year to 36,000 tonne this year. SCL has one plant at Hosur and two in Chennai. The proposed investment by the company will be for brown-field expansion, sources said. Investments by TVS Motor, the third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country, will be for a brown-field expansion at Hosur, which will support its growth target of eight to 10 per cent for the whole year. The investment comes at a time when the company has lined up some new launches, including a 125-cc motorcycle during the July-August time frame. The company has reported a seven per cent growth in domestic sales during the month of April at 151,181 units, as against 141,619 units in April 2011. Total sales of the company grew four per cent in April 2012 with sales of 174,455 units, as against 167,744 units registered in April 2011