Leoni invests 10 million euros to expand India plant

Leoni Cable Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. is investing 10 million euros ($11.6 million) for additional capacity at its plant in Pune, India.

The Nuremberg, Germany-based manufacturer produces a wide range of cables and cable systems for the automotive sector and other industries.

The company is adding electron beam cross-linking technology in Pune, in line with India's growing infrastructure requirements. It now has capacity to produce more than 80,000 kilometers of e-beam cables a year, to be used in India's railway and solar markets.

The e-beam process makes cables dimensionally more stable when subjected to heat, more resistant to chemicals, solvents and temperature fluctuation as well as harder and more resistant to abrasion.

"The investment will contribute to the growth of Leoni's business in India besides providing superior solutions for India's rising needs under the government's 'Make in India' initiative," said Bruno Fankhauser, a member of Leoni AG's board of directors, in a statement.

The existing plant also has capacity to produce around 12,000 kilometers annually of multicore control, instrumentation and communication cables.

Leoni began in India in 2010 with an engineering office and manufacturing for automotive wiring systems. It opened a cable plant in 2013 at Pune to target railway, solar, and oil and gas markets.

The Pune plant is targeting the Indian market for solar and railways, as well as South Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets. It currently employs about 130 people, which is expected to rise.

Crain Communications