Daicel plans ₹230-cr airbag inflator unit in Chennai

Japan headquartered Daicel will set up an automobile airbag inflator manufacturing plant in Chennai at an investment of ₹230 crore.

The new factory has been planned to meet growing demand for automobile airbag inflators in the country.

The proposed facility is to come up on OneHub, a 1,250-acre business city that is being developed by real estate group CapitalLand in a joint venture with IREO, on Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai.

“Until now, we have been supplying products to the Indian market from our production site in Thailand and other countries. However, due to the growth potential of the Indian automobile market, and the need to strengthen automobile manufacturer and airbag module manufacturer supply chains in India, we have decided to establish a local production site at OneHub Chennai,” said Takase Yoshifumi, Managing Director, India Operations, Daicel Corporation.

Daicel will further strengthen its presence in the Indian market through stable production and supply of products, manufacture of inflator and parts’ procurement in the country.

Daicel is scheduled to start operations by December 2023. In October 2018, Daicel established a sales base Daicel Safety Systems India Pvt Ltd at Gurugram, Haryana in view of growth in the Indian automobile market and the tightening of safety regulations.

Last month, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had proposed to make it mandatory that an airbag be provided for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.

The proposed timeline for implementation are April 1, 2021 for new models and June 1, 2021 for existing models.