Annual Interaction with President ACMA at Ludhiana

Ludhiana, April 9, 2014: Auto Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), the apex body representing the interest of Indian Auto Component Industry organised an interactive forum with Harish Lakshman, President ACMA at Ludhiana on Tuesday to discuss and address the issues of the local ancillary manufacturers in the region of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Chandigarh. Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab, was the Chief Guest for the evening.
The meeting organised in the backdrop of unfavourable performance of the vehicle industry in India in the last fiscal 2013-14 aimed at understanding better the challenges being faced by the local industry and how ACMA could address these through various interventions and programs including those of the government at the Centre and the State. The vehicle performance in the country continues to be under prolonged pressure due to high interest rates coupled with inflation, uncertainty in the environment due to volatility in the currency, cost of raw materials and prices of crude oil, lack of direction in fuel policy and shaky customer confidence.
Commenting on the performance of the components sector and the challenges, Harish Lakshman, President ACMA said, “The automotive industry is one of the key drivers of the Indian economy.The turnover of the auto component industry in FY 2013 was USD 39.7 billion, considering the performance of the component industry mirrors that of the vehicle industry, we expect a marginal growth for the industry for FY 2014. Going forward, we expect the growth to return to the industry sometime in the third quarter of FY 2014, once a new government stabilises, post the elections”.
“Considering the rupee has significantly depreciated against the US Dollar, this has aided India’s exports which stood at USD 9.69 billion in CY 2013,growing 4.4% over the previous year; till such time the US dollar continues to be at Rupees 56 or above, we believe it will be favourable to be components exports”, added Lakshman.
Highlighting the encouraging industrial climate in the state of Punjab on the occasion, Karan Avtar Singh Principal Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce, said, “Punjab is one of the most vibrant engineering and auto component manufacturing hubs in India; Inherent competitive advantages have rendered Punjab as a leading state in this arena. The State Government will be happy to engage with ACMA and the Automotive Industry to define an Automotive Policy conducive to the industry.”
US Ahuja, Chairman, ACMA MSME Committee, said, “These are difficult times for the component sector and we are encouraging our members in the region to focus on improving internal efficiencies as well as skilling people. The ACMA cluster programs offer an ideal road map for improving productivity and quality and should be effectively deployed to make the industry competitive.”
The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) is the apex body representing the interest of the Indian Auto Component Industry. Its active involvement in trade promotion, technology up-gradation, quality enhancement and collection & dissemination of information has made it a vital catalyst for this industry’s development. ACMA’s charter is to develop a globally competitive Indian auto component Industry and strengthen its role in national economic development as also promote business through international alliances. ACMA is an ISO 9001:2008 certified Association.