PARI gears up for massive expansion of auto sector

With a dozen new automobile manufacturing and expansion projects announced in India by MNC and domestic auto majors, Precision Automation and Robotics India (PARI), country's largest robotics and automation solutions provider said it has gained the capability to execute projects starting from planning, building of automation equipment and commissioning the projects on a turnkey basis.

This would be for the first time that an Indian company could handle such an assignment. To take up the new challenges, PARI is currently setting up a new production line of automation and robotics equipment at its Pune manufacturing base with a capital investment of ₹15 crore.

'At this 60,000 sq ft new manufacturing facility, we will build and test vehicles and set up assembly line for the end customers. The customer just needs to tell us the vehicle design and configuration of the engine. We will do the rest, starting from implementing the project to sourcing of components and all that goes into making the end product,' told Dr Ranjit Date, president & Joint Managing Director PARI to HT.

To gain this capability, PARI recently entered into a collaborative and co-operative agreement with European leaders in overhead conveyor systems, Cinetic Assembly of France, a part of the Fives-Lille Group. This would enable it to develop, manufacture, and provide solutions for automotive assembly, including overhead conveying and electrified monorail systems (EMS) system solutions in India.

The collaboration is likely to generate revenues of more than ₹300 crore in the next five years as it could provide cost effective solutions through local manufacturing, engineering and service support. The Indian automobile sector currently witnessing major growth, with a whopping $12 billion worth investment lined up in the next few years.

'Global auto majors Nissan, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen have announced plans to set up manufacturing facilities in India and almost all Indian auto majors have announced to expand capacity. There is huge opportunities ahead,' Date said.
'Our in-house capabilities to develop line integration, machine building and control software would be an important value-add,' he added.

Apart from catering to almost all Indian automobile companies, PARI, which had a turnover of ₹110 crore last year, currently exports its solution to international customers such as Caterpillar, Honeywell, Emerson, Dow Corning, American Axle Manufacturing Hitachi Metals, Alfa Laval, and Fanuc Robotics. It has over 500 employees working at eight facilities worldwide.