Financial discipline and rapid growth has been a potent combination for Minda Industries. And at $2.4 billion, its chairman, Nirmal Minda, is among India's richest auto component billionaires
The auto industry had seen three years of healthy growth in 2017. Sales had moved at a steady 12-15 percent a year, commodity prices were benign and margins were at decadal highs. As such, there was no reason for anyone in the industry to look for new growth areas.
Not so for Nirmal Minda, the 63-year-old chairman of Minda Industries. Always on the lookout for new areas, his team noticed that the only alloy wheels available in India were imported from Indonesia or China. Priced at between ₹10,000 and ₹15,000 per car, the product had a market size of ₹2,000 crore and yet, there was no Indian manufacturer. This was not an insignificant business, but none of his rivals had decided to enter it.
After a SWOT analysis, they concluded that the business had the potential to reach a 30 percent market share. Alloy wheels also had the potential of generating a return on capital employed of 30 percent. A plant was set up soon after.
(This story appears in the 06 May, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)