Freudenberg Gala Household Products (FGHP) has expanded its production and office facilities in Adas, Gujarat. The expansion represents a significant step towards increasing the site's capability to suit the rising demand for innovative home product solutions in India and throughout the world.

The new production space, which is more than 3,086 square metres in size, is dedicated to making foot pedals and floor cleaning supplies for spin mop machines. Twenty-one moulding machines, two spin mop assembly lines and five state-of-the-art pedal production lines will all be housed at the building. The spin mops will be offered for sale under the Gala brand, which is India's top cleaning brand. The foot pedals are meant to be included into cleaning products that are marketed in the US. The expansion increases the current capacity of 20 million brooms and brushes to over a million spin mops and five million footpedals.

Jatin Gala, General Manager India, FGHP, said “By expanding our premises, we significantly boost production capacities and efficiency while optimising workflows. This enables us to meet increasing domestic demand for spin mops. Also, we reinforce the site’s status as a hub for innovation and productivity within FHCS by supplying pedals for our O-Cedar products in the US.

Karin Overbeck, CEO, Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions (FHCS), said “Our joint venture with FGHP has been very fruitful. In just over a decade, we have increased net sales tenfold, and we see great potential for further growth. By investing in the site’s expansion, we bolster our strategic position in India and underpin the market leadership of Gala.”

TVS Motor Company, one of the leading two- and three-wheeler manufacturers in the country, has announced its ambitious investment plans for Karnataka.

The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Karnataka government to invest INR 20 billion in the state over the next five years.

The investment will be deployed towards not only expanding its production and engineering capabilities, but also set-up new company office, test track and a global capability centre.

The announcement was made by Sudarshan Venu, Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, at the inaugural event of the Global Investors Meet (GIM), Invest Karnataka 2025.

“We envision a capability centre that will draw top talent and great ideas, and have research capability to be the birthplace of next-gen bikes. The office and allied infrastructure will bring together engineers, designers, innovators, AI and ML experts, who will define what is next! Karnataka is a place where great ideas take off and we are excited to expand our footprint in the state.” 

“TVS Motor has emerged as the world’s fourth largest two-wheeler company, with 58 million users globally – an achievement that would not be possible without the guidance of stakeholders in the government. As we make progress towards our 2030 goals, the plan that we have outlined today will help deliver impactful solutions in personal and commercial mobility, setting new benchmarks,” said Venu.

At present, TVS Motor Co operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Mysuru that employs more than 3,500 people and has a annual production capacity of 1.5 million vehicles. The present production facility contributes around INR 12 billion of export revenue of the INR 76 billion revenue generated. With the new investments, the company aims to double its export and overall revenues from Mysuru operations.

Automotive Test Systems has inaugurated the MdynamiX Test Centre in Pune recently with a focus on development and testing in the fields of Vehicle Dynamics and ADAS. The centre – with SIL, HIL test benches that enable braking HIL, steering HIL etc. and systems such as ECU HIL and static simulator, will also incorporate a six degree of freedom, DIL simulator at a later stage. The simulation and system development will be augmented by various test systems for track testing and calibration on the test track with software including MXeval and MXoptiCal (with targets). 
To undertake testing and validation projects for customers in India and overseas, involving MdynamiX facilities in Germany as well, the new centre, according to Ramanathan Srinivasan, Managing Director, ATS, “Will facilitate faster development times and provide the necessary tools in India that were until now hard to reach.”
Professor Dr Peter Pfeffer, CEO, MdynamiX, informed: “Our partnership with ATS and the opening of the MdynamiX India Centre marks a significant step forward in our mission to deliver innovative and reliable automotive testing solutions to our customers. We are excited to bring our advanced technologies to the Indian market and look forward to fostering deeper collaborations with local industry leaders.” 
Set to become a cornerstone of MDynamiX’ global operations in association with Automotive Test Systems, the centre is poised to drive advancements in automotive testing and development. It is committed to support the industry by introducing more test benches and driving simulators in the coming years.
Interesting systems such as stationary targets, dynamic targets, driving robots, INS systems, data loggers etc. will also be a part of the centre. 

Pune-based SME – Nuovotech Engineers – has bagged a critical machined part order from Sidhakala Engineers, a supplier to Bajaj Auto Limited for its two-wheelers and three-wheelers since 1997. Manufacturing two-wheeler sub-assemblies such as swing arm assembly, central stand, side stand, frame parts, fuel pump spring holder, rear brake drive lever and chain protection guard, Sidhakala Engineers has a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Besides press steel parts for automobiles, farm machinery, furniture and home appliances, the company has been recognised for its quality and dedication by key automotive suppliers like Uno Minda and automotive OEMs like Piaggio India.

Nuovotech Engineers, on the other hand, has been a micro unit catering to the needs of Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers. It is also catering to pump manufacturers such as Kishore Pumps and Kirloskar. The company also operates a sister concern called as Sachin Engineers, which specialises in the machining of shafts, flanges and various other critical machined parts as well.

The order for a critical machined part includes a groove made to fine tolerances to fit an oil seal inside it. The groove diameter is itself small and subject to highly accurate programming and machine, making it a very critical operation that not every industry is able to perform. The 'production' job also demands high quality tools, a top quality CNC machine and a smart operator to produce in large quantities at extremely competitive costs. 

Nuovotech Engineers has shown the ability to develop as well as manufacture such a critical fine machined part to bag the order. "Much investment and time was put in the development of this critical machined part as it was also essential to understand the metallurgy in terms of the tools used, the material used and the time cycle taken to successfully make it," said Sachin Sawant, Partner, Nuovotech Engineers. 

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Besides emphasis on electricity distribution reforms and measures for gig workers, the Budget 2025 puts the spotlight on national manufacturing mission to support clean tech, improve value addition in solar PV modules, electric vehicle batteries, high voltage transmission equipment, wind turbines and grid scale batteries. 
With China controlling much of the clean tech supply chain, the mission will combine with the PLI schemes for solar PV modules and batteries, aiding those in the field of backward integration and operations that are scaling up. 
Further scaling up the reach of ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, the Budget 2025 once again has brought into focus the MSME sector. It has been the worst hit by GST with thousands of units in any given industrial areas in cities like Pimpri-Chinchwad going belly up. Considered to provide employment to up to 70 percent in the manufacturing MSMEs have not only been unable to sustain financially, they have not been able to innovate or invest in advanced machinery/equipment and upskilling the way they should have been. 
They also seem to have lost out on their ability to export or sustain the margin pressures that come with supplying goods to suppliers up the ladder. This has led to many Tier 1  or Tier 2 suppliers and OEMs – particularly in the auto sector which contributes most to GST collection and the manufacturing GDP of the country – to look at sourcing from China by installing either permanently or temporarily their sourcing personnel or agents there. 
Perhaps taking such practices into account, the Budget 2025 has focused on MSME sector in terms of their upliftment as it would in-turn help them to drive employment led innovation, energy supplies and exports. 
The custom duty on Lithium-ion batteries has been reduced and tax has been exempted for cobalt powder. 
On the Income Tax front, the Finance Minister announced in her speech that a New Income Tax Bill will be tabled in the Parliament soon. This bill is expected to exempt tax on income till INR 12,00,000. There will be TDS relief offered to senior citizens. 
Until the New Income Tax Bill in tabled in the Parliament and passed, the old Income Tax regime will continue to be valid. 
 

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