German Auto Components

New Delhi, July 3 (UNI) A high-level business delegation from Germany comprising small and medium companies in the auto components, machine tools and engineering sector is currently visiting various industrial hubs in India for exploring the possibility of tie-up and collaborations in various fields.

The delegation from the State of Baden Wurttemberg, Germany, is on a 9-day-visit to India which began on July one, 2006.

The delegation organised by the Association of Industrial Enterprises Baden (wvib) is being led by wvib General Executive Manager Dr Christoph Munzer.

Most of the companies are looking at India as their next destination for investment and sourcing, says Indo-German Chamber of Commerce Deputy Director General Ajay Singha.

Verschleiss Schutz Technik, a 25 year old German company with a turnover of 10 million Euros is visiting India for the first time with a purpose to set up their manufacturing facility or joint venture for coatings of machine tools, various multi layer techniques and laser welding technology.

''We are in the process of setting up a manufacturing base in US and the next in line is India or China. We find China a very difficult market and comparatively India is much more flexible in terms of legal and administration issues as well as the stability factor'', says President and CEO of the company Dr Keller.

Sedus Stoll AG, a 140 million Euro company manufacturing medium and high end office furniture, is looking at both, exporting office furniture to India as well as importing components and spare parts, says Chairman of the Board Mr Kallup says.

While Datadirect gmbh, a computer software and hardware company, is here to meet with its Indian counterparts who had visited them during the Hannover Fair.

The delegation will visit various manufacturing facilities and meet with Indian companies at New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai for possible tie-ups and collaborations.

As almost all of them are manufacturers, they are keen to visit the manufacturing facilities and understand the working culture and product facilities of their Indian counterparts, adds Mr Singha.

The delegation is comprised of 15 companies from various sectors like Machine tools, networking solutions and computer hardware, special construction adhesives, pressure transmitters, capacitive sensor technology, clearance control systems, turned parts and assemblies for the automobile industry.

Germany's interest in India as an exporter, a technology partner as well as a manufacturing base is at an all time high.

Germany has more than doubled its investment in India in the last financial year. With a total investment of 303 million dollars in the last financial year (2005-06), as compared to an investment of 145 million dollars in the financial year 2004-05, Germany's investment in India is reaching new heights.

Germany is India's second best technology partner, after US., accounting for over 1,099 technical collaborations.

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