JBM Grp in talks with foreign players for bus manufacturing

Auto component-maker JBM Group today said it will make a foray into the vehicle manufacturing space through a tie-up with a foreign partner for the launch of buses in India by next fiscal.

The company will join hands with a foreign partner to roll out the product from a new facility to be set up either in North or West India.

"We are working on the bus project and are in discussions with big companies for forming an alliance. We will forge this alliance by the end of this fiscal," JBM Group Executive Director Nishant Arya told PTI on the sidelines of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) summit here.

The company is likely to form the alliance with a European firm, he added.

"We are looking to introduce buses next financial year," Arya said, adding that the firm will finalise the location of the facility, besides investment and other details once the alliance is formed.

On its component business, Arya said: "The group is investing Rs 500 crore this fiscal on expanding its existing capacities and setting up new facilities."

The company is setting up new units in Chennai, Sanand and Pant Nagar, while expanding existing capacities at its Pune, Gurgaon and Faridabad facilities.

Arya said, "Post-expansion, the company's production capacity will increase to 1.2 million units per day by next fiscal from the existing one million parts per day."

Asked for the company's revenue outlook, he said: "We are targeting a Rs 6,500 crore turnover this fiscal for the entire group, as compared to Rs 4,600 crore in FY'11."