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UPDATE 1-India's Sona Koyo eyes 1 bln rupees 06/07 exports

(Adds quotes, share price)
MUMBAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Mid-sized Indian auto components
maker Sona Koyo Steerings Ltd. plans to export 1 billion rupees
($22 million) of components in 2006/07 and expand capacity to
meet increasing demand, Chairman Surinder Kapur said on Tuesday.
"There are lot of possibilities for everybody in this
industry to gain substantial business from international
companies, whether they be a General Motors, a Renault or a
Toyota," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a manufacturing
summit.
With a market share of 45 percent, Sona Koyo is
India's largest steering gears maker. Japan's Koyo Seiko Co. Ltd.
<6473.T> owns 20.47 percent of the company.
"Overseas business has become an important segment of our
industry and therefore we don't have a choice but to scale up our
capacities," Kapur said.
Kapur said Sona Koyo plans to raise manufacturing capacity by
50-100 in next two to three years to meet growing demand.
"We have decided to put capacity ahead of business because
overseas customers do not want us to say that we will put up
capacity if you give us orders, instead they want us to say that
we have already got capacity," he said.
Leading car makers General Motors Corp. , Ford Motor
Co. , DaimlerChrysler AG and Volvo AB ,
heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. and bankrupt auto
parts maker Delphi Corp. and Robert Bosch GmBH
[ROBG.UL] are all clients of Indian auto components makers.
Kapur said that leading private equity funds and financial
institutions were now ready to fund expansion in the industry.
"My feeling is that private equity funds and financial
institutions are now very bullish on automotive components," he
said.
Asked if Sona Koyo would seek funds from institutional or
strategic investors, Kapur said his company was yet to finalise a
clear road map for expansion.
($1 = 46.1 Indian rupees)
((Reporting by Hiral Vora, editing by Braden Reddall; Reuters
Messaging: [e-mail]; [phone]))
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