Fleet Gaskets India to set up new plant in Faridabad

Fleet Gaskets India, which is a major player in the gasket export market with 98 percent of its business from overseas business, is going ahead with plans to set up its third manufacturing facility in India, in the city of Faridabad, Haryana. 

The Tier 2 supplier of varied automotive sealing gaskets including cylinder head gaskets, exhaust gaskets, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets and wire-mesh gaskets, to name a few, closed FY2016-17 with a year-on-year growth of 32 percent in exports.

The company, which currently has two manufacturing plants – one each in Haridwar and Delhi – expects the 40,000 square feet Faridabad unit to become operational by June 2018. According toVijay Chopra, managing director, Fleet Gaskets India, the new facility will see the use of new-age manufacturing techniques for gasket production. The company will make the shift to laser cutting and water-jet cutting machines, from the existing hydraulic and power press machines, which it currently deploys.

The new equipment is to be imported from Germany and would offer improved precision and quality, at reduced cycle times. The company, which currently offers its range of products in the commercial vehicle (both LCV and M&HCV) space and also for passenger vehicles, has its predominant customer base in the form of German OEs, which provide 60 percent of its revenues.

The remaining business is roughly equally split between exports to the US and UK. With a minimal domestic presence, the company also plans to expand its footprint, once the GST rolls, taking away the currently prevalent multiple excise duty structures from the local market.