Sundaram Brake Linings will increase its capacity to manufacture friction material, the only product it makes which is used in brake linings of automobiles, by 3,000 metric tonne a year from the current 20,024 metric tonne.
Though the company describes its installed capacity in metric tonne in its annual report, it lists its production in sets of finished goods. In 2008-09, its installed capacity had gone up 0.6%, it had produced 18% fewer sets at 14.2 million sets.
This TVS-group company has seen its revenues stagnate between Rs 1.7 billion and Rs 1.8 billion for the past three financial years till 2008-09 ,while its net profit has declined from Rs 138 million in 2006-07 to Rs 45.1 million in 2008-09.
For the current expansion, the company will invest Rs 215 million, of which Rs 175 million will be funded by debt. The plant is expected to be operational by December 2010 and will enable Sundaram Brake Linings to cater to growing export demand and any increase in demand in domestic market.