‘US$ 30-35 billion opportunity in manufacturing sector in India’: Baba Kalyani

Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, says there is a huge opportunity for Indian companies in the manufacturing sector.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ‘Make In India Week’, which opened in Mumbai today, he said: “Currently, India’s imports of manufactured products are in the region to US$ 70-80 billion (Rs 442,190 crore – Rs 505,360 crore) a year. Half of those products can be indigenously manufactured today with today’s technology.”

Clearly, this translates into an opportunity to save US$ 30-35 billion (Rs 189,510 crore – Rs 221,095 crore) forex a year.

The industry veteran said currently 70-75% of defence hardware is imported by India, adding that prime minister Narendra Modi is keen that 75% of this be made in India. “This morning, I met with around 4 companies which are supplying products to the defence sector. They all want to see what Indian companies can make,” said Kalyani.

Bharat Forge, the flagship company of the US$ 2.5 billion Kalyani Group, is today a global provider of high performance, innovative, safety and critical components and solutions to various sectors including automotive, oil and gas, power, locomotive and marine, aerospace, construction and mining. It is the largest exporter of auto components from India and a leading chassis component manufacturer globally. 

Targeting new growth sectors
The new focus areas for Bharat Forge are the defence, mining and power sectors. Kalyani is of the opinion that the global slowdown is a fact but he would rather see it as “global volatility” and not as a slowdown.

On February 9, 2016, Bharat Forge through its subsidiary company Kalyani Strategic Systems executed a joint venture agreement with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to address programs in relation to BMP II Upgrade, tactical control systems, other advanced systems and other such programs floated or to be floated by the Ministry of Defence, India under the joint venture company Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems.