Suprajit has announced that it concluded the acquisition of the Light Duty Cable (LDC) business unit from Kongsberg Automotive ASA. 

The company said in a release that all the four LDC related entities are now 100 per cent owned subsidiaries of Suprajit through Suprajit USA, Inc.  

Ajith Rai, Founder and Chairman of Suprajit, said, “We heartily welcome all the employees of LDC to Suprajit Family on the conclusion of acquisition of LDC. It is heartening that Suprajit will emerge not only as a global leader in mechanical control cable systems but will aspire to become most preferred supplier in the world. Our combined manufacturing footprint in India, China, Hungary, USA and Mexico, with engineering centres in Novi (USA), Wichita (USA), Tamworth (UK) and Bangalore (India), along with the engineering support in multiple countries, will give Suprajit group a deep-rooted presence in this business. With 400 million annual cable capacity, Suprajit will have the capability to emerge as a `one stop shop for cables’ in the world. We are excited about the opportunities, this acquisition will bring to Suprajit.”  

The company said the total employee strength of LDC is around 1300. The sales for the calendar year 2021 was USD 85 million with operating EBITDA margin of about 8 per cent. The Enterprise Value of the transaction is USD 42 million. Suprajit said that it expects the business to exceed USD 100 million in the next couple of years with double digit EBITDA. 

Suprajit said it used a portion of cash available with the company and balance through debt to complete this transaction, leaving behind a significant cash surplus with the company. 

Mohan N S, Managing Director and Group CEO, said, “Our strategy of Cables beyond India and in India beyond cables has been pursued with a clear focus. With this acquisition, we have demonstrated our ability to scale up to world-class levels. We have also expanded our management bandwidth to manage plants in various geographies to serve our customers across the globe and truly become a global player”. 

Akhilesh Rai, Director and Chief Strategy Officer, said, “LDC will form the fulcrum of a global Suprajit. Our strong push into systems through Suprajit Tech Center, along with our access to global customers and global platforms, will be a transformative acquisition for Suprajit as we move to support our customers in a holistic manner, from cables today to actuation technologies tomorrow.”  

LDC has marquee global customers in the automotive, non-automotive and two-wheeler businesses including Tesla, Fiat, Land Rover, Mercedes, Honda, STIHL, Shiroki, Adient, Husqvarna, Lear and Magna. Suprajit said it will also emerge as a global leader in the control cable business with a strong global footprint to serve any customer in all of these segments. LDC has a complimentary manufacturing footprint, customer base, product and technology.
Suprajit will also acquire the actuation technology through this transaction, making Electro-Magnetic Actuators (EMA), a new product segment for the group. 

Jim Ryan, President, Suprajit USA, said “I am happy to welcome the team at LDC into the Suprajit family and I look forward to the work ahead of us to ensure that the combined value of the companies, for all stakeholders, is greater than just the sum of the two individual parts.” (MT)

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Tata Elxsi, a global leader in design and technology services has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Infineon Technologies, a leading semiconductor solutions company, to jointly develop application-ready electric vehicle solutions tailored to the Indian market.

The partners will collaborate on design and integration expertise to drive faster adoption of automotive-grade, cost-efficient and safety-compliant subsystems across key mobility segments. This collaboration, the partners stated, aligns with India’s rapid shift towards electrification, with EV sales growing by 25–30 percent year-on-year in 2024, including a 28 percent increase in electric two- and three-wheeler sales.

As part of the understanding, Tata Elxsi will bring its design, system integration and validation capabilities, while Infineon will provide early access to its latest semiconductor technologies – such as silicon carbide (SiC)-based components, microcontrollers and integrated circuits (ICs).

The partners will work closely to develop high-voltage inverters for traction and auxiliary systems, scalable battery management systems (BMS), bi-directional onboard chargers and high-voltage thermal management solutions for the Indian market targeting two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle segments. In future, they also look to support eVTOL, energy and off-highway sectors.

Nambi Ganesh, Head – Automotive, Tata Elxsi, said, “Currently, several of our EV solutions are already built on Infineon SoCs and components. This MoU further strengthens our partnership by giving us a clearer scope and tighter system-level alignment, enabling shorter turnaround times to address Indian market requirements. As EV adoption scales, our focus remains on delivering production-ready, automotive standards-compliant platforms and solutions.”

Kenneth Lim, Senior Vice-President – Automotive, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, said, “At Infineon, we are committed to driving innovation in the electric vehicle sector and empowering our partners to bring cutting-edge technologies to market. This partnership with Tata Elxsi is a significant step in our journey to support India’s ambitious electrification goals. By combining Tata Elxsi's design and integration expertise with our advanced semiconductor solutions, we are not only enhancing the development of ready-to-deploy EV systems but also ensuring that they meet the highest safety and performance standards. Together, we aim to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility across various segments, from two-wheelers to commercial vehicles, and contribute to a more sustainable future for India.”

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Hindustan Zinc Limited, India's sole and the world's biggest integrated zinc producer, said today that its Board of Directors has authorised the first phase of investments to double production capacity.

This development is in line with the robust rise in the demand for steel both domestically and internationally. Over the next five years, the company intends to increase its capacity for producing metal and silver, increasing its overall production capacity to over 2,000 KTPA and 1500 tonnes, respectively. In addition to expanding related mines and mills throughout its operations, the Board has authorised the proposal to establish a new 250 KTPA integrated smelter at Debari in the Udaipur area of Rajasthan. The company’s current metal production capacity is 1.1 million tonnes. At a total cost of over INR 120 billion, the project is expected to be finished in 36 months.

This is an important development since it coincides with the ongoing global zinc market shortage. Silver output has increased more than 20 times, while zinc production has increased four times since the government sold up its share in 2002 and the Vedanta Group bought it. Holding the second-highest zinc reserves and resources in the world with more than 25 years of mine life, the firm is one of the lowest cost zinc producers in the world.

Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc Limited, said, “We are excited to announce this 2x growth project towards doubling our capacity across zinc, lead and silver, which is strategically aligned with the country’s expanding economic landscape, increasing demand opportunities and keeping country self-reliant for Zinc. By closely matching the pace of national growth, we are confident that this will create significant value for our stakeholders and drive long-term success.”

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India’s automotive industry could face fresh supply chain disruptions by mid-July 2025 due to declining inventories of rare earth magnets, following tightened export restrictions and shipment delays from China, according to rating agency ICRA.

Jitin Makkar, Senior Vice President and Group Head – Corporate Ratings at ICRA, cautioned that the situation echoes the semiconductor shortage of 2021–22, which led to the loss of nearly 100,000 passenger vehicles. “Rare earth magnet inventories are projected to last only until mid-July 2025 for several passenger vehicle and two-wheeler applications,” he said.

Neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, critical for high-performance uses like EV traction motors and power steering systems, are heavily imported – around 85 percent of India’s USD 200 million imports in FY2025 came from China. These magnets make up nearly 30 percent of an electric two-wheeler motor’s cost, with motors priced between INR 8,000 and INR 15,000 depending on specifications.

To counter the supply challenge, Indian OEMs and auto component manufacturers are exploring several alternatives: importing fully assembled motors from China, sending rotors to China for magnet assembly, using substitute materials with similar properties, or switching to rare earth-free motors using electromagnets. However, each option faces significant logistical, regulatory, and engineering hurdles.

While the immediate impact could disrupt production planning, ICRA believes the crisis may also drive innovation and diversification in both materials and supply chains for the Indian auto sector.

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Hyundai Mobis, a part of Hyundai Group specialising in manufacturing of auto components, modules & systems, has developed a new rear safety control technology that can reduce rear-end collisions.

The company states its new active control technology uses sensors to detect approaching vehicles from behind and manoeuvre the vehicle out of danger, is expected to hit the market soon. It integrates sensors such as rear-side radars and front cameras with driving control technology.

The solution works when the driver engages the Smart Cruise Control (SCC) function on the highway. When the sensors detect any other vehicle at a proximity of 10 metres or less, it first emits an audio alarm or a visual warning on the cluster. When the situation keeps persisting after a certain amount of time, the vehicle automatically accelerates to maintain a safe distance. In addition, the rear side radars also detect the movement of the vehicle behind, while the front camera recognises the lane and vehicle ahead on the driving path to assist in safe acceleration.

Hyundai Mobis acknowledges that while some global OEMs have already integrated such technology, the functions are not yet advanced enough for the vehicle to control itself autonomously. On the other hand, its technology is able to independently adjust the distance between the front and rear vehicles and avoid dangerous situations.
The Korean company plans to further expand the scope of autonomous control for defensive driving against rear vehicles. Currently, the company is developing a lane-changing function to escape dangerous situations, in addition to an acceleration control function that allows the vehicle to speed up on its own.

Jung Soo-kyung, Executive Vice-President and Head of Automotive Electronics Business Units, Hyundai Mobis, said, “We will actively protect the safety of mobility users by providing solutions that can intelligently handle not only front-end safety, but also dangerous situations caused by rear vehicles while driving.”

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