Japanese major Sumitomo buys 49% stake for Rs 1,181 crore in Mukand’s special steel subsidiary

Japan’s Sumitomo Corp has acquired a 49-per cent stake in Mukand Sumi Special Steel Ltd, a joint venture with Mukand, for Rs 1,180.99 crore, while the Indian company retains 51 per cent stake in the JV firm.

This is the largest investment by Sumitomo Corporation in India, and also one of the largest equity investments in a manufacturing company in India by any Japanese corporation for FY’18.

Makoto Horie, senior managing executive officer and general manager, metal products business unit, Sumitomo Corporation, said that the Japanese company was keen to strengthen its presence in India, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

Mukand Sumi Special Steel is into rolling, finishing and marketing of alloy steel wire rods and bars made from blooms and billets procured from Mukand’s Hospet plant in Karnataka. The JV has 100 acre of land adjoining Mukand’s Hospet plant, which will be used to construction new steel rolling facilities by mid 2020 with an investment of about Rs 600 crore.

The automotive sector in India has grown rapidly in financial year 2018 and is expected to continue to expand for several years. The auto component sector in India is a Rs 3 trillion industry, currently exporting of Rs 740 billion a year, and is a major success of the ‘Make in India’ programme.

Mukand is a supplier of specialty steels to all global manufacturers in the Indian automotive sector for their critical components.

Mukand is a manufacturer of specialty steel long products and industrial Machinery. Mukand produces alloy steel from Hospet, Karnataka and stainless steel from its facility in Thane, Maharashtra.