New clients to cushion the impact of Ford’s exit: Kamarajar Port CMD

On September 9, Ford India announced it will wind down vehicle assembly in Sanand by the Q4 of 2021, and vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai by the Q2 of 2022.

Ford India has four plants in the country - vehicle and engine plants in Chennai and Sanand. Ford India has decided to continue operating the engine plant in Sanand while closing down the other three. “Till July 2022 Ford India has export commitments. We don’t see a major impact till then. Meanwhile, we are also talking with other automobile makers and there has been good progress,” said Sunil Paliwal, CMD, Kamarajar Port. According to him, the new automobile client is likely to ship out about 60,000 units per year which would offset the loss of business from Ford India in a major way.

“Ford India has a major facility near Chennai and some other automobile makers may take over the same. So, there will be business potential for us,” Paliwal said.

Ford India has been a major client for Kamarajar Port since 2014 and their contract is valid till 2024.

“The highest volume of exports logged by Ford India through our port was about 90,000 units,” Paliwal said.

Meanwhile, the Kamarajar Port is also expanding its infra by adding a new general cargo berth at an outlay of about Rs 190 cr and dredging at an investment of about Rs 80 cr. Besides Ford, the other auto makers who ship out their vehicles via Kamarajar Port are Renault Nissan, Isuzu, Daimler, Komatsu, Caterpillar and others.