FFT capacity augmentation

With 90 per cent of its order book reserved for automotive, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies India is aligning with the demand. Manufacturing an estimated 7,00,000 filters from the Sanaswadi Village plant, in Pune, of which 90 per cent is allocated to the automotive segment, the company expects demand to rise by ~50 per cent (~11,00,000). To cater to this projected demand by end of the year, the company has begun the process of capacity augmentation at the facility. It will install two new machines of German make to manufacture cabin air-filters, revealed Ashok Pandey, Head of Automotive, Freudenberg

Filtration Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Known to contribute 70 per cent of the production load as of current in a 24by7 operation, the capacity augmentation is expected to help distribute the load. India investments amount to Euro 7.1 mn. This includes the investment at SIPCOT, Sriperumbudur.

The global logistics firm, Kuehne+Nagel has just started an electric vehicle service for airport transfers in Mumbai. With this service, Kuehne+Nagel hopes to gradually transition to electric vehicles in order to lessen its carbon footprint, advance the cause of a sustainable future. Between Mumbai airport’s Kuehne+Nagel warehouse and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport, Mahindra Treo Zor will be used ferry air cargo. The use of EVs is anticipated to reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint by 24.7-tonne annually. Commenting on air logistics, Marcel Fujike, SVP, Global Head Products & Services Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel, said “Our customers have benefited from the global availability of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) since last year, and we continue to develop sustainable solutions for a fully carbon neutral transport journey. The introduction of EV airport transfer is the next phase in our transition to low-carbon, door-to-door air transportation, with more sustainable services to follow.” The company is taking several initiatives globally as well to reduce carbon footprint and contribute its bit to sustainability.

The Pune unit of Navratna Defence PSU, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will manufacture Li-ion battery packs for the electric trucks of US-based Triton, as part of an MoU. BEL is among the five organisations which will be investing in this Triton EV manufacturing hub at Bhuj, Gujarat. The MoU aims at manufacturing battery cells in India for energy storage systems and electric vehicles in the heavy vehicle segment for the requirements of customers in USA. The company has acquired the technology for Li-Ion cells and is setting up a state-of-the-art facility for its manufacturing, the statement said. The partnership between BEL and Triton is set to give a major boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative and EV thrust of the Government, in the journey towards an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative,” it was stated.