IFAD Autos recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Ashok Leyland of India

IFAD Autos plans to assemble 4,000 vehicles annually

Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu, chairman of IFAD Group, talks to The Independent

With a view to tapping into the growing commercial vehicles’ market in Bangladesh, IFAD Autos Ltd, country’s one of the leading motor vehicle body manufacturers, is now setting up an assembly plant for buses and trucks in Dhamrai, Dhaka. The company hopes to assemble 4,000 vehicles at the plant annually.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between IFAD Autos of Bangladesh and Ashok Leyland of India in this regard in Chennai recently.
IFAD has made an initial investment of Tk 54 crore towards the construction of infrastructure for the assembly unit located in Dhamrai. The plant is expected to be fully operational from December this year.
“We have been working as the sole distributor of Ashok Leyland for the last 30 years and are distributing CBU (Complete Built Up) buses and trucks imported from India locally. A few years later, we started importing containers, dumpers and container movers. The capacity of the vehicles was between 5 to 40 ton. We are now importing vehicles with even 1 ton capacity,” Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu, chairman of IFAD Group, told The Independent.
The IFAD cairman said that the company had brought about a new era for the automobile industry of Bangladesh with the deal. “We will now be making vehicles of Ashok Leyland, which are of international standard and are recognised globally, in our country. Moreover, it will be highly cost-effective and will save foreign currency as we do not have to pay import duty,” he said.
The IFAD assembled vehicles will be initially marketed in Bangladesh. Exports to different states of India like Assam and Tripura, which are adjacent to Bangladesh, will also begin eventually. “The discussion is on between the two companies on this aspect,” the IFAD cairman added.
The assembly plant will be called the ‘IFAD Auto Industrial Park’ and will be located at Dhamrai on more than 70 bighas of land. “We will bring only engines from India, while the rest of the accessories including rexine, paints, lights, foam, sheets and gaskets will be procured from local companies. This will help growth of linkage companies alongside the progress of our company,” the chairman added.
As per the deal, IFAD will assemble the full body of trucks and buses in their factory and will later go for special vehicles. “Exporting vehicles will be highly helpful for our economy. We used to import biscuits from Malaysia, while now we export biscuits of our country to Malaysia. In the future, our country will export vehicles to other countries as well,” Iftekhar observed.
Responding to a query regarding the financing for a project of this magnitude, Iftekhar said that Ashok Leyland had initially offered IFAD a joint venture which they refused as the company had already raised money from the stock market to invest in the project. “We are getting technical support from India. Specialised technicians from India are providing training to our workers for better output,” he added.
According to the IFAD chairman, the deal will also create immense employment opportunities. “There are already about 650 workers working in our company. This includes mechanical engineers, automobile engineers and workshop mechanics. About 90 per cent of them are from our country while the rest are from India,” he said.
Sharing the future plans of the company, the IFAD chairman stressed that increasing employment was the core idea at the company. “As one of the biggest emerging companies in the country, we have a responsibility to create opportunities for skilled workers. Our focus on non-traditional exports to expand our market worldwide will help the people of our country,” he added.
Ashok Leyland's current market share in medium and heavy commercial vehicles in Bangladesh is 35 per cent, while the figure stands at 40 per cent in the 52-seat bus segment.
The annual turnover of IFAD Groupe stood at Tk 840 crore this year.
The company expects to take the figure to Tk 1,200 crore in the coming year.

IFAD Autos recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Ashok Leyland of India

IFAD Autos plans to assemble 4,000 vehicles annually

Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu, chairman of IFAD Group, talks to The Independent

With a view to tapping into the growing commercial vehicles market in Bangladesh, IFAD Autos Ltd, countrys one of the leading motor vehicle body manufacturers, is now setting up an assembly plant for buses and trucks in Dhamrai, Dhaka. The company hopes to assemble 4,000 vehicles at the plant annually. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between IFAD Autos of Bangladesh and Ashok Leyland of India in this regard in Chennai recently. IFAD has made an initial investment of Tk 54 crore towards the construction of infrastructure for the assembly unit located in Dhamrai. The plant is expected to be fully operational from December this year. We have been working as the sole distributor of Ashok Leyland for the last 30 years and are distributing CBU (Complete Built Up) buses and trucks imported from India locally. A few years later, we started importing containers, dumpers and container movers. The capacity of the vehicles was between 5 to 40 ton. We are now importing vehicles with even 1 ton capacity, Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu, chairman of IFAD Group, told The Independent. The IFAD cairman said that the company had brought about a new era for the automobile industry of Bangladesh with the deal. We will now be making vehicles of Ashok Leyland, which are of international standard and are recognised globally, in our country. Moreover, it will be highly cost-effective and will save foreign currency as we do not have to pay import duty, he said. The IFAD assembled vehicles will be initially marketed in Bangladesh. Exports to different states of India like Assam and Tripura, which are adjacent to Bangladesh, will also begin eventually. The discussion is on between the two companies on this aspect, the IFAD cairman added. The assembly plant will be called the IFAD Auto Industrial Park and will be located at Dhamrai on more than 70 bighas of land. We will bring only engines from India, while the rest of the accessories including rexine, paints, lights, foam, sheets and gaskets will be procured from local companies. This will help growth of linkage companies alongside the progress of our company, the chairman added. As per the deal, IFAD will assemble the full body of trucks and buses in their factory and will later go for special vehicles. Exporting vehicles will be highly helpful for our economy. We used to import biscuits from Malaysia, while now we export biscuits of our country to Malaysia. In the future, our country will export vehicles to other countries as well, Iftekhar observed. Responding to a query regarding the financing for a project of this magnitude, Iftekhar said that Ashok Leyland had initially offered IFAD a joint venture which they refused as the company had already raised money from the stock market to invest in the project. We are getting technical support from India. Specialised technicians from India are providing training to our workers for better output, he added. According to the IFAD chairman, the deal will also create immense employment opportunities. There are already about 650 workers working in our company. This includes mechanical engineers, automobile engineers and workshop mechanics. About 90 per cent of them are from our country while the rest are from India, he said. Sharing the future plans of the company, the IFAD chairman stressed that increasing employment was the core idea at the company. As one of the biggest emerging companies in the country, we have a responsibility to create opportunities for skilled workers. Our focus on non-traditional exports to expand our market worldwide will help the people of our country, he added. Ashok Leylands current market share in medium and heavy commercial vehicles in Bangladesh is 35 per cent, while the figure stands at 40 per cent in the 52-seat bus segment. The annual turnover of IFAD Groupe stood at Tk 840 crore this year. The company expects to take the figure to Tk 1,200 crore in the coming year.