Car parts, tyre makers eye aircraft components

New Delhi: Auto component manufacturers and tyre makers are making the first quiet moves into an uncharted area - components for aircraft manufacturers.
Cashing in on the low cost of skilled labour, a clutch of companies are taking the first tentative steps to supply to the big world of aviation.
MRF, India's largest tyre manufacturer, has taken the first step by making tyres for helicopters used by the defence services.
Similarly, lighting manufacturer Lumax Industries is conducting a feasibility study on the market for aircraft lighting.
Pune-based auto component manufacturer Ashok Minda Group's has tied up with Australia's NTS Tooling to set up a venture that will be operational in two or three months.
The company is unwilling to share details of the tie-up.
Auto component manufacturers Sundram Fasteners is also looking at the aviation market pretty seriously. Maini Precision Products, part of Maini Group, is already planning to manufacture aircraft material parts but again, is unwilling to discuss details.
For Indian auto manufacturers getting into the aviation space has many advantages. Industry experts said gross profit margins in auto ancillaries are 10 to 12 per cent, but for the aviation space they are far higher.
16/02/08 Danny Goodman/Business Standard

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2008, New Feb 2008