Delphi TVS Tech to invest Rs 450 crore in expansion, looks at tractor segment

Chennai, April 11

Diesel automotive common rail systems major Delhi TVS Technologies Ltd will be investing about Rs 450 crore in expanding its capacities and is also looking at getting into other precision engineering products, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

The Rs 1,800 crore turnover company, part of the $8 billion TVS group, is also looking at the tractors and commercial vehicles segment for its common rail systems.

"The group is also looking at segments powered by new fuels. Electric is one of the new fuels," Chairman and Managing Director T.K.Balaji told media persons here.

He said group company Lucas TVS will be building lithium ion batteries.

President A. Vishwanathan said: "We will be investing about Rs 150 crore per year for next three years in our production facilities to meet the demand. The company's Orgadam facility will be expanded. By 2025 we will be touching the five million common rail systems mark. The company has till day produced three million common rail systems."

Even though some of the car manufacturers have stopped making diesel powered cars, he said there are various segments within the car market having diesel-fuelled vehicles.

The company is looking at the tractor industry for its common rail systems, he added. The tractors are currently using inline systems.

"The tractors have to comply with the TREM V emission norms and that needs common rail systems," Viswanathan said.

Adding to that, Chief Technology Officer B.Viswanath said, the company has developed the common rail systems for tractors taking into account the Indian conditions. It is an oil lubricated system and tractors can migrate from mechanical to common rail systems.

Balaji said the company is developing products from ground up. Further, there are only three global players in the common rail systems as it is capital and technology intensive.

According to Viswanathan, common rail systems is a highly precision engineered product and the company is planning to leverage that capability to get into other products.

Delphi TVS Technologies, a 52:48 joint venture between 15.8 billion Borg Warner, US and T.V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons, will be commemorating the achievement of reaching three million common rail systems on Wednesday at its Oragadam plant near here.