London: Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo Group today (Nov 21, 2004) announced a major expansion of its operations in India with the addition of three automotive components manufacturing plants, aimed at generating a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years.

Paul, founder Chairman of London-based Caparo Group, told a group of visiting Indian journalists that Caparo was looking to generate annual turnover of Rs 300-Rs 350 crore in 2005, raising it to Rs 1,000 crore in three years.

With India poised to emerge as a leading manufacturer and exporter of cars in the next five years, Lord Paul envisaged that the Caparo Group would be a leading exporter of automobile components from India to other parts of the world.

His youngest son Angad is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Caparo's Indian companies.

Paul, who was thwarted in the early 1980s from taking over DCM and Escorts companies in India, said the new plants were under construction for completion next year.

They include a new automotive components plant at Bawal in Haryana, which will be in operation in February-March next year and another plant in Indore, which will double its turnover to Rs 70 crore by June next year.

Expansion of the Halol plant in Gujarat to raise the turnover to Rs 24 crore by July next year and setting up of a plant in Haryana for manufacturing fasteners for the automotive and general industries, which will be in production by September next year with an annual turnover of Rs 50 crore in the first phase, are the projects being planned.