The Rs 1,000-crore Switzerland-based Oetiker Group, a supplier of clamps for Tata Nano, on Monday inaugurated its plant in Patalganga near Mumbai. Local production will help the group to save nearly 15% cost since it does not have to supply clamps through import route.

?Our decision to set up a plant in India was necessitated by our clients. Also, despite the global economic slowdown, the Indian automotive industry remains robust,? said Ulrich Meier, CEO of Oetiker Group. The group has seen a drop of 30%-40% in sales in its major markets including Europe (56%) and the US (30%). Asian market, that makes up to 14% of its global sales, has been robust. ?It (Asia?s sales) is around 28 million swiss franks at present, which we expect to go up to 50 million in the coming years. Half of this will come from India,? said Meier. The Rs 60-crore Patalganga plant will have a capacity of over 75 million clamps per annum. In the first year, the plant will produce around 25 million clamps. ?The plant will predominately cater to automotive clients in the country. However, other sectors including railways, medical, aerospace, shipbuilding, chemical, mining, petrochemical, power generation are also on the cards,? said Ashwani Keswani, country head of Oetiker India Pvt Ltd. The group is also looking at aftersales market in the country and sourcing raw-material from India for Oetiker global needs. Currently, over 12 million Oetiker clamps are being imported by the Indian auto clients. Typically, a vehicle has around 40-50 clamps.

Some of the group?s auto clients include Tata Motors, Fiat India, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai India. Global auto-client list includes Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, Volvo, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Honda and John Deere (JD). ?India has a 300-400 million clamps market in automotive alone. We hope to cater to demand arising from our global clients based here through this plant,? said Keswani. The group is in talks with major two-wheeler companies including Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda. It has already cracked deal with the Yamaha India.