Raghudon Speaks

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/08/22/stories/2006082203960200.htm

 

CEBBCO eyeing joint ventures with global cos

Mayur N. Shah

To export 150 trailers a month to Thailand; plans investment in additional facility at Jamshedpur

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Trailer info
The Indian arm will become an outsourcing hub for trailers in the ASEAN market.
Though tippers contribute 60 per cent of the turnover, the trailer market is likely to overtake it.

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Mumbai , Aug 21

Commercial Engineers & Body Builders Co (P) Ltd (CEBBCO) expects to export 150 trailers every month to its Thailand partner, CTV Doll and the number could be scaled up to 500 by 2008, Mr Ajay Gupta, CEO, told Business Line.

The Indian arm will become an outsourcing hub for trailers in the ASEAN market, he added. India has a bilateral trade agreement with Thailand on reduced duty terms, which is expected to lead to full-scale free trade agreement.

Trailer market

While exports will contribute to 50 per cent of total turnover for the company, the domestic market is expected to grow from 25,000 units to 1,00,000 units in the next four years. Though tippers contribute 60 per cent of the turnover, the trailer market is likely to overtake it.

The rise in the trailer market is largely due to the change in product and service offering by commercial vehicle manufacturers. Major players such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland are looking at offering fully built commercial vehicles in the next five years, said Mr Kailash Gupta, Managing Director, CEBBCO.

Currently, India is one of the few countries, where the chassis of a commercial vehicle is sold separately and this is likely to change very soon, he said.

Expansion plans

With growing domestic and export sales, the company has decided to invest in an additional manufacturing facility at Jamshedpur in Bihar at an investment of Rs 35 crore.

The facility will have a production capacity of 800 load bodies, 250 tippers and 150 trailers. Its existing facility at Jabalpur has a manufacturing facility of 1,000 tippers and 600 trailers on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, the company is in discussion with leading international companies in Germany, France, Austria and the ASEAN countries for a joint venture for manufacturing tippers and trailers in the country, say sources.

The technology will help reduce the weight of tippers by 20 per cent thus increasing payload by 20 per cent.