Chennai, May 26 (IANS): Automotive component maker Brakes India Private Ltd has decided to get into castings for turbochargers investing around Rs.180 crore mainly for export market, said a senior official.

Part of the TVS group, Brakes India supplies brake systems and castings for automotive sector.

"We see good demand from the turbocharger industry which seems to be a sunrise sector. The capacity of the new plant will be around 1.25 million pieces to start with," V. Narasimhan, executive director, Brakes India, told IANS on Thursday.

According to him, the competition in this segment is quite stiff with the presence of around five global players.

"The turbocharger castings will be mainly for the US and European markets. The castings should tolerate very high temperature," Narasimhan said.

Queried about the location of the turbocharger casting facility he said it will be housed at the company's existing factory in Sholingar, around 115 km from here.

The company will also planning to have a machining unit in the US to meet the local value addition norms.

Brakes India's subsidiary has a foundry unit in Salalah in Sultanate of Oman to serve the overseas market.

According to him, the Indian foundry industry exports around $2.7 billion worth of castings and an additional $2.5 billion in finished components.