A joint venture co-invested by Bhrat Forge Co Ltd. (BFL), the flagship company of Indian Kalyani Group and China's auto giant First Automobile Works (FAW) Co. Ltd began operations Monday in northeastern Jilin Province.

 

The joint venture based on FAW Corporation's subsidiary FAW Forgings involves the largest investment by an Indian company in China, said Zhu Yanfeng, general manager of FAW Corporation.

 

BFL, the second largest forging company in the world, acquired 52 percent stake in the new joint venture, FAW-Bharat Forge Changchun, for an undisclosed amount. Previous reports said the Indian company invested at least 230 million yuan (US$28 million).

 

The two investors pledged to jointly exploit China's huge auto parts forging market with the new joint venture, which is designed with a capacity to forge 4 million vehicles parts every year.

 

FAW-Bharat Forge Changchun, located in Changchun, provincial capital of Jilin, will manufacture forged auto components for commercial vehicles, buses, light trucks and passenger cars and its annual production capacity will reach 200,000 tons over the next 10 years, said Zhu.

 

Bhrat will share its global market and technology resources with FAW, making the joint venture a popular supplier in the global automobile industry, said BFL chairman and managing director Baba Kalyani.

 

The venture will also help BFL serve its customer base in China, the fastest growing automotive market in the world, he said.

 

BFL has nine manufacturing facilities around the world - two in India, three in Germany and one each in Sweden, Scotland, North America and China, he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)