Stumpp Schuele & Somappa Springs (SSS Springs) in association with South Korea-based Daewon is putting up a ₹170 crore plant at Sriperumbudur to make advance seating systems, initially for the Railways.
“This is our maiden entry into making seating systems. The trial runs have already begun and the commercial production will start by December. We are planning to invest ₹170 crore in two phases,” Satish Machani, CMD, SSS Springs told The Hindu.
Bengaluru-based SSS Springs is one of India’s largest spring manufacturers with 14 production facilities, including one in the U.S., while Daewon is one of the world’s leading automobile seating manufacturers.
According to him, in the first phase, Machani Ramesh Engineering Pvt. Ltd. will invest ₹20 crore to make seats for metro rail coaches and has secured orders from Alstom. A sum of ₹150 crore will be pumped in the second phase to make seats for buses and cars among others.
“It is a 60:40 joint venture. The initial investment cost will be met through internal resources. We hope to achieve break even in two years. These Made-in-India seats will be exported to Romania and other countries,” he said.
The JV will be addressing a market valued at $1.6 billion per annum. Currently, the import content is about 80% and it will be brought down to 20% in 24 months, he added.
Asserting that both the firms are in existence for more than seven decades and are unlisted, he pointed out that they are a family-owned business. Machani Ramesh Engineering is planning to go public after two years.