The Caparo Group, the steel product and engineering group set up by British parliamentarian Swraj Paul, has begun to further diversify its Indian operations – currently focused on the auto components sector – to fill unused capacity in the wake of slowdown in demand in the auto sector.

Speaking to BusinessLine at his global headquarters in London, Lord Paul, who set up the group in 1968 and remains its Chairman, said they have begun to enter new markets in India since the start of the year, including components for solar panels, battery-operated auto-rickshaws, bio-toilets – designed to be used in rural areas and in the railways – and composite readymade housing to utilise spare capacity that remained following a slowdown in the auto sector.

“The auto market went down some 30 per cent – it is reviving but still not to the same extent that it was –hence the need to diversify.” He said that as demand continued to revive in the auto sector, the company would build further capacity and factories. Work on several of these projects – including the e-rickshaws and bio-toilets – has already started since the start of the year and the group has begun to take orders.

While largely a steel product and engineering group, the Caparo Group has, on occasion, ventured into other products, including developing the high-speed Caparo T1 car, launched in 2008.

While Europe, and particularly Britain, and the US account for most of the group’s turnover (in the region of around $2 billion a year) Lord Paul said he hoped to continue to increase his presence in India, from around 15 per cent of revenues to between 25 and 30 per cent.

Like many within the steel and steel product industry, particularly in Europe, Lord Paul spoke with cautious optimism about the market. “The situation is still very fragile but things are stabilising,” he said. Conditions in Europe, in his view, were better than in other markets.

Lord Paul came to Britain in 1966 and set up the group two years later. The group now has a global workforce of over 10,000.

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