Aurangabad-based Dhoot Transmission, one of India’s top wiring harness maker, will enter into an equal joint venture (JV) with the US-based Carling Technologies, a leading switch maker for heavy trucks and construction equipment to make electrical and electronic components in India, two people in the know said. The announcement is expected in the next few weeks, they said. Dhoot Transmission and Carling Technologies will sign a 50:50 joint venture agreement paving the way for Carling to have a local manufacturing base while allowing technology access to its Indian partner.
Carling is in auto components business for close to a century, while Rahul Dhoot founded Dhoot Transmission in 1999. The manufacturing plant is likely to come up at Dhoot Transmissions’ existing base in Aurangabad. The JV will aim to meet the requirements of the growing Indian market and ship components to other markets. Carling has a presence in America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
An email sent to Carling and Dhoot Technologies did not elicit any response till press time. The latest move by the Indian auto component maker closely follows its recent acquisition of Scotland-based TFC Cable earlier this year. Carling is currently represented in India only through a sales office, but caters to more than 35 companies in the heavy commercial vehicle and construction equipment space. By making products locally, Carling products will be available at an affordable price. After establishing its position in the Indian wire harnessing market, Dhoot tapped the export markets in 2007-08.
The JV with Carling is Dhoot’s plan to diversify geographically as well as expand its product portfolio. The acquisition of TFC Cable allowed Dhoot to establish its presence in the European market, with 13 plants across England and Slovakia. The JV with Carling will enable Dhoot to add new markets by using India as an export manufacturing base.
Dhoot Transmission has a 30 percent market share of the wire harnessing business in domestic two-wheeler market and 25 percent in the commercial vehicles space. Over the years, Dhoot diversified into a wide range of products including sensors, controllers, and switches. Having grown at a healthy double-digit growth over the last few years, Dhoot Transmission is likely to cross a milestone of $100 million in turnover by the end of this fiscal. Dhoot has 13 units in India across auto hubs of Pune, Aurangabad, Chennai, Manesar, Pithampur besides UK and Slovakia.
Source: Economic Times