Indian car parts maker Bharat Forge, while launching a ground-breaking Chinese joint venture, denied on Monday that it was close to buying the steel-forging units of German industrial group ThyssenKrupp, according to Reuters.

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The report said that India’s Economic Times newspaper reported last week that Bharat Forge was likely to buy its German rival’s forging businesses in the United States and Europe for more than US$1.5bn.


“I think that was a lot of speculation on behalf of some media,” Chairman BN Kalyani told Reuters. “There’s no truth in that.”


Kalyani was speaking to the news agency at the launch of FAW Bharat Forge (Changchun), a joint venture with First Automotive Works, China’s largest auto maker, that will produce 100,000 tonnes a year of axles, crankshafts and other components.


Kalyani reportedly acknowledged that overcapacity in the auto industry, volatile demand and unstable supply chains would make China a tough place to do business.

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But he added: “If anybody wants to be a significant player in the automotive component business, like we want to be in our area, it would be very hard to do this without being in China.”


Reuters said that Pune-based Bharat Forge, which is investing an undisclosed sum for 52% of the China venture, has five wholly owned plants outside India – four in Europe and one in the United States.


“I think being in China kind of completes the whole global strategy for Bharat Forge,” Kalyani said. “If you’re not here, then I think you’re going to lose out as a global supplier.”