David Brown Group has increased its shareholding in David Brown Bharat Forge Gear Systems India Ltd by buying out its Indian partner, Bharat Forge Ltd. The move will initiate a major programme of investment and forms a commitment to business growth with strong alignment to the Made in India initiative, increasing the value of business to $50 million in the next five years. The new business will operate under the new name David Brown Gear Systems India Pvt Ltd.
Thomas Burley, Chief Executive Officer, David Brown Gear Systems comments, “David Brown Gears has a long history in India and we are very pleased to be able to build our capability and invest fully in this rapidly growing market. We are tremendously excited by the Indian government’s Made in India programme and the encouragement it gives to businesses with advanced engineered products and services such as David Brown to develop a full design and manufacturing capability in country. The fit between India’s needs for advanced transmission technology and David Brown’s products is ideal. I would like to thank our partner Bharat Forge for their support in helping us establish our business over the last 5 years. I would also like to thank our Indian employees and leadership team for building up the business during this period. Their commitment and capability has given us the confidence to take full control of the business and move to this next phase of investment and growth we are announcing today.”
The JV was set up in 2011 as part of David Brown’s global expansion strategy to serve markets on an international stage, focused on power, mining, hydro, irrigation, defence, cement, rubber, metals and sugar covering both new build and service and repair sectors. The business also benefits from access to David Brown’s existing installed base for service and repair activities including maintenance, inspection, drop in replacements, overhauls and reverse engineering to deliver greater process availability, reliability and efficiency for its customers’ operations.
Venkatesh Subramanyam, MD India comments, “David Brown will continue to build on the sound base established in core markets since 2011. Ongoing investment in manufacturing, people and infrastructure will further expand our capacity to meet local customer needs, leverage low cost supply for customers worldwide and continue a proud tradition of Made in India”.
David Brown Gear Systems India investments in the short term will focus on developing manufacturing expertise in-house including gear cutting. This will ensure closer control of quality, the flexibility to respond to customer requirements and expansion of the value proposition. It will also expand the product portfolio in the India market to include access to a more comprehensive and sophisticated David Brown global product range including proprietary products such as the CX mining conveyor and HX high speed gear technology developed by David Brown centres of excellence located worldwide. David Brown Gear Systems India itself has potential for growth as a low cost manufacturing centre for David Brown globally.
Gerry Marshall, Chief Operating Officer, David Brown Group comments, “We are delighted to announce this important development for David Brown which demonstrates our continued focus and commitment to the region. Additional investment in our equipment and people in the India facility will also strengthen our service and repair capabilities and capacity in line with the needs of our current and future customers. Enhancing our presence in India is a critical step for growth as we continue to develop our worldwide capabilities and customer responsive services.”
