Profile of Indo Shell Mould

Businessworld has a profile of Coimbatore-based auto components maker Indo Shell Mould, which recently raised funds from SIDBI Venture Capital.

The company, which hopes to close this fiscal with Rs 200 crore in revenues, attributes 40 per cent of them to two-wheeler castings, 30 per cent to hydraulic valve bodies, and the remainder to tier-1 clients such as Delphi, Piaggio, Audi and other high-end automobile makers. Its products find their way into cars, trucks, two-wheelers, refrigerators and sewing machines. The infrastructure boom has also helped Indo Shell, driving a strong demand for earth-moving equipment components — catered for by its hydraulic valve bodies. Today, the company churns out a staggering 3,500 tonnes of shell moulded ferrous castings per month; half the industry total of nearly 7,000 tonnes per month.

Balaji Jagadeesan, deputy managing director (commercial), Indo Shell Mould, saw just how much of an impact the move had: “Though the castings business is big, there are many players. So, we expanded to precision and hydraulic castings. The quality levels in the company have risen and this has helped increase sales and exports.” Almost 30 per cent of its products are exported to countries such as the US, Europe, Japan and even Brazil and China. All in all, this spread of products and customers has resulted in the company registering uninterrupted turnover growth in the past decade (see ‘Unstoppable Rise’).

This rising profile has not gone unnoticed. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) venture capital took a stake for Rs 15.72 crore in this closely held unlisted company last year, unlocking funds to drive further expansion and growth.

Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports.