Comments
Chennai
Antunes Nadi Manufacturing India Pvt Ltd, a 65:35 joint venture between US-based Antunes, a leading privately-owned manufacturer of filtration systems and cooking equipment, and Chennai-based NADI group, is expanding its India operations with a new manufacturing unit and strengthening its capabilities to develop new products and serve export markets.
- Also read: Brands get on to the Ayodhya brandwagon
The JV manufactures six different types of cooking equipment targetted at commercial restaurants in India as also water filtration systems. Indian facility is the second overseas unit of the US company, which set up its first overseas unit in China in 2003.
Strategic expansion
The ‘strategic expansion’ in Chennai has been necessitated in view of the growing opportunity in the Indian QSR (quick service restaurant) market and also to use Indian operations to serve some of the export markets, said Glen Bullock, CEO, Antunes.
The JV, which started its operations in 2019 with a 4000 sq ft unit at Madhavaram near Chennai and further expanded to 9,000 sq ft, has set up a new 40,000 sq ft space, which entailed an investment of more than ₹4.5 crore, at Hiranandani Industrial Park, Ponneri in Chennai.
“Over the past 4 years the company has grown very fast and it has now set up a new facility as the focus now is not only for production for the Indian market but also for exports to Africa and the Middle East,” said JB Kamdar, Managing Director, Antunes Nadi Manufacturing India.
With the latest expansion, the company plans additional assembly of products, local sourcing, specifically associated with filtration products, and developing new products specifically for India, the Middle East, and Africa.
“As part of this expansion, we are localising the supply chain to procure sheet metal components and electro-mechanical parts, and other components from suppliers in India. The company will also be looking for local partners in its programme to develop new products,” Daniel Schmidt, Managing Director of International Business, Antunes.
localisation levels
The localisation levels in its equipment are expected to increase from 10-15 per cent to 80 per cent and more in the coming years.
The company plans to hire about 40 more people across functions such as assembly, quality, software development, and sales in the next few years.
In addition to serving the Indian market, the company is planning to export its certain Chennai-built equipment to its customers in Africa and the Middle East.
Schmidt said the company explored many other states before deciding on the Chennai location. “We decided to stay in Chennai due to local infrastructure, proximity to ports, and commitment of workforce here,” he added.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.