New Delhi: Pavna Industries, which recently bagged an order from Ola Electric for supply of ignition switches and latches, is commissioning a new plant at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
According to Swapnil Jain, Managing Director, this facility will be ready by the end of this calendar year and will involve an investment of INR 50 crore in the first phase. “The Hosur plant will meet the needs of TVS Motor, Ola Electric and Ampere which are located in the souther region,” he told ETAuto in a telephone interview.
Right now, Pavna Industries supplies these parts from its decades-old Aligarh plant in Uttar Pradesh. With an expansion of its two-wheeler clientele beyond Bajaj Auto, to whom it has been supplying for many years now, the company believes Hosur will have a critical role to play in the future.
With TVS Motor coming onboard recently, Pavna decided to set up a plant close by in the same region. Ola also operates from Hosur while Ampere has a plant in near-by Ranipet. There are a handful of other two-wheeler players in Tamil Nadu which could be part of the Pavna fold eventually. Hosur will also give the parts maker access to commercial vehicle makers like Ashok Leyland and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.
Foothold in the South
“From our point of view, the idea was to get a foothold in the south and de-risk ourselves from the main plant in Aligarh. If something were to happen there and affect operations even temporarily, we would still have our Hosur plant as a backup to meet the needs of customers across the country,” explained Jain.
This fiscal will also see Pavna move into its own premises at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand from the present rented facility which primarily caters to Bajaj Auto. This unit makes aluminium die casting components of which a small portion is exported.
Another Pavna setup in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) is largely an assembly operation for Bajaj Auto. “Our main business is ignition switches and we want to be a pioneer in the two-wheeler space,” said Jain. The company also makes fuel tank caps, latches, auto locks, handles etc.
Pavna has big plans for its Aligarh facility which was commissioned nearly 25 years ago. The present thinking within the management is to have “a world-class plant” by the end of 2028. Hosur has been planned as “a baby plant” which will complement the strengths of the rebooted Aligarh when it is up and running four years down the line.
“Our Aligarh facility started operations in 2000 and, today, every OEM wants automation and the best-in-class products. We will, therefore, increase automation to reduce costs, increase capacity and minimise human errors. OEMs also insist on zero defects from suppliers and any marginal error will put us in a fix. A single failure can turn out to be risky,” said Jain.
It was keeping in mind this grim reality that prompted Pavna to begin planning for a completely modern facility at Aligarh by the end of 2028. Work will begin sometime in 2026 and the investments are expected to be in the range of INR 200 crore.
Automation mantra
“A good plant operates on systems, machines and automation. The future could see us cater to big international auto brands which, in turn, need to be confident that the best is coming from Aligarh or Hosur. Right now, we supply to Indian companies but the next four years could see an era of change coming in,” he said.
With the new Jewar airport also being readied in UP, the travel time from Aligarh by road will be barely a couple of hours. The plant is also well connected to Gurugram in Haryana which is a vibrant auto cluster and home to some of the biggest brands. Jain reiterated that the company’s focus would largely be on two and three-wheelers along with commercial vehicles and tractors.,
According to him, the internal combustion engine will continue to stay relevant in spite of the electric momentum in the two and three-wheeler segments. “Technology keeps evolving and we are also keeping pace while transiting from mechanical to electronics,” he said.
The growing focus on R&D could see Pavna forge strategic alliances or even set up a new R&D centre in the future even though e Jain refused to comment on the subject. “We are not trying to jump but going step-by-step,” he said.
The company exports components to other suppliers in Italy which, in turn, make them ready for the OEM concerned. Pavna also ships out parts for the aftermarkets in Sudan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which are big markets for the Indian two-wheelers. These include filters, clutch plates, bearings, wiper blades and brake shoes.
