Bharat Forge scouts for clients in EU
KRISHNA KANT
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2003 05:09:04 AM ]

NEW DELHI : Bharat Forge's export sales are expected to top their domestic sales by next financial year. At present, exports account for 36% of its sales revenue.

The company’s exports are expected to cross Rs 400 crore during current fiscal while sales revenue is expected to reach Rs 1,000 crore.

During the last fiscal, Bharat Forge (BFL) exported components worth Rs 271 crore, as against Rs 116 crore clocked in ’01-02.

The company's officials, however, were not willing to comment. Bharat Forge’s vice-president and chief technology officer Amit Kalyani refused to either deny or confirm the story.

Mr Kalyani is learnt to be travelling in Europe at the moment, securing fresh orders, while the company's chairman Baba Kalyani is tipped to be on a visit to the US meeting prospective customers.

People close to the company, however, say that BFL is bang on target. Timely and strategic investments in production capacity has made BFL the world’s least cost manufacturer of forged components.

With auto MNCs facing cost pressure, they have no option but turn to BFL for supply of low cost components, says a source close to the company. BFL's Pune unit is the world's largest single location forging. After its recent acquisition of CDP, Germany , BFL has emerged as the second largest forging company in the world.

The company started as an exporter of chassis component for global commercial vehicle market and is now leads the world with a 36% market share. The company is now diversifying into engine and suspension components for passenger cars.

The global passenger car market is four times larger than the CV market. Due to overwhelming cost pressures, this segment has recently begun outsourcing of components in a large way.

BFL recently bagged large multi-year orders from Ford and Daimler Chrysler for their global passenger car business. While Ford Motor USA has initiated development of crankshaft forgings with Bharat Forge, Daimler Chrysler has chosen BFL to supply crankshafts and camshafts forgings for their passenger car engines in Germany . BFL has also won an order to supply control arm forgings to a global passenger car company in Australia . In addition, the company has bagged a new multi-year order to supply steering knuckle forgings to Dana of the US .

The company has also begun supplying to its second Chinese customer while exports to Renault are being scaled.