Bangalore: British auto component firm Carclo Plc is shifting its cable manufacturing unit from England to India through a joint venture it announced today (Dec 1,2004) with Bangalore-based cable producer Suprajit Engineering for exporting to its customers in Europe.

The 50:50 JV of Carclo and Suprajit with a total investment of pound sterling 1.5 million (about Rs 12 crore) will build a factory at Doddaballapur on the city outskirts with a capacity of 12 million cables per annum, Suprajit Managing Director Ajith Kumar Rai told reporters in Bangalore.

Carclo has been outsourcing to Suprajit in the last three years with a current value of Rs four crore and the new unit to be operational next December, would supply cables to firms like Jaguar, Rover, Toyota and General Motors in Europe.

"We are shifting our production unit from Litchfield in the West Midlands to here and about 150 people will lose jobs," Carclo Plc CEO Ian Willamson said.

The British firm currently employing 229 people would retain the design and logistics support staff, he said adding that it has spoken to its staff about the shift and "is not quite alarming as identifying people is the toughest job there".

"The continued pressure from global majors on cost down requests, makes it obvious for us to find alternate manufacturing bases like India to remain competitive," said, Williamson adding the Indian operations will offer about 20 per cent cost savings.

Suprajit produces 32 million cables in six factories and aims to achieve Rs 100 crore revenue this fiscal, Rai said.