Uno Minda approves Rs3.20bn seating systems plant in Maharashtra

The plant will be built through Uno Minda Tachi-S Seating (UMTS), a subsidiary formed as a joint venture with Japan’s Tachi-S Co.

Uno Minda has approved an investment of approximately Rs3.20bn ($33.4m) to build a greenfield facility for passenger vehicle seating systems in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, entering the four-wheeler seating segment.

The plant will be built through Uno Minda Tachi-S Seating (UMTS), a subsidiary formed as a joint venture with Japan’s Tachi-S Co.

According to the Indian automotive supplier, annual capacity is set at 240,000 seating systems, with production due to start in the fourth quarter of FY2027-28.

Additional capacity will be introduced in stages through to FY2030-31.

The project will be financed using a mix of equity and term loans.

Uno Minda said the move is aimed at supporting business expansion and meeting demand from customers.

In a separate decision, the company’s investment, mergers & acquisitions committee cleared an additional equity infusion of up to Rs930m into UMTS, to be deployed across one or more tranches.

This funding will be provided in line with Uno Minda’s current 51% stake in the joint venture, leaving its ownership share unchanged.

The partnership with Tachi-S dates back to September 2022, when the two firms formed the joint venture to produce and sell seat recliners for passenger vehicles.

Uno Minda said the new investment broadens the scope of the tie-up to cover complete seating systems for four-wheelers.

The company also stated that the joint venture has received an anchor order from a major OEM, though it did not disclose the customer’s identity.

Uno Minda managing director Ravi Mehra said: “This is one of the most exciting chapters in Uno Minda’s growth story. Entering the complete 4W Passenger Vehicle Seating Systems segment isn’t just a product expansion – it’s a strategic leap that substantially increases our per-vehicle value potential and deepens our footprint in a segment that is central to the premium vehicle experience.

“This greenfield facility reflects our unwavering commitment to advanced domestic manufacturing and delivering the kind of high-performance seating comfort that India’s rapidly evolving automotive market demands.”

This latest move comes after Uno Minda’s decision in May to set up a separate greenfield facility in the same city, for electric vehicle powertrain components, through another subsidiary, Uno Minda Auto Innovations Pvt. Ltd.

That facility, which carries a proposed investment of around Rs5.50bn, will produce Electric Drive Units (EDUs) and Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT) systems.

It is scheduled for commissioning in the second quarter of FY2027-28 and will be funded through a combination of debt and equity.

“Uno Minda approves Rs3.20bn seating systems plant in Maharashtra” was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.