Caparo plans big for aerospace sector

Caparo India, part of the Caparo Group owned by Lord Swraj Paul, is keen on entering the aerospace sector in a big way, a top company official said in Chennai on Thursday.

"We are focussing on the automotive sector, trying to attract aerospace customers by exporting to them. Our ultimate goal is to bring aeroplane manufacturers to India," Angad Paul, CEO, Caparo Group and son of Lord Swraj Paul, told reporters.

He was speaking after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up a state-of-art manufacturing unit in Oragadam, 30 km from Chennai, at a cost of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion).

"We want to use our knowledge base for both automobile and aerospace sectors, using our own technology," Paul said.

The company is investing Rs 300

crore in the first phase for manufacturing tubular parts for automotive and aerospace, automotive braking systems, fasteners and composite materials and testing at the Oragadam unit, Paul said.

This is Caparo's second project in Tamil Nadu, the first being an auto components plant at Sriperumbudur at a cost of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion), which will commence production next month.

The company turnover is 50:50 on both sectors, he said. Though the aerospace segment contributed small numbers in production, its high value contributed towards the turnover to the extent of 50 per cent.

The group wants to concentrate more on aerospace, he said.

Caparo has invested Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) in the state so far and further investments may be added.