'Localisation is a priority for Sona Comstar's biz'

Sunjay Kapur, President of Sona Comstar gives an overview of why he is optimistic about the Indian auto components sector despite concerns from the US and Europe. Amit Vijay M spoke to him.

- Amit Vijay M

IT IS CLEARLY ADVANTAGE India as companies look for alternatives to China as part of the China Plus One strategy, and localisation is the way ahead for the automotive industry. That’s the word coming in from Sunjay Kapur, President of Sona Comstar, one of India’s prominent Tier I automotive and EV component makers. “Localisation is a priority, and I'm glad that Indian industry CEOs are paying significant efforts in this area,” says Kapur.

The company is focussing its efforts on localisation as global OEMs depend on it for sourcing various components. The company is aiming at an overall capex push between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 crore. It aims to further work as a global supplier of driveline solutions for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, and Offhighway Vehicles as well as a leading traction motor and motor-controllers supplier to electric two-wheelers (e2Ws).

At the launch of Sona BLW Precision Forgings’ secondlargest manufacturing plant in Chakan few weeks ago, that has been set up with an investment of Rs 231 crore, Autocar Professional spoke with the entire top brass of Sona Comstar including Sunjay Kapur, Non-Executive Chairman for the combined entity Sona Comstar, MD and Group CEO Vivek Vikram Singh and Chief Technology Officer Kiran Manohar Deshmukh. This new facility has been dedicated to manufacture driveline products for EVs, mainly.

In discussions with the management team, the company revealed having a strong order book of Rs 21,500 crore as of March 31, 2023, of which 77 percent is from its electric vehicle programmes.

How do you see the outlook for the auto component industry despite concerns from the US and Europe?