India’s largest automotive-parts foundry, Ennore Foundries Ltd, in Chennai, has announced a plan to build a second operation, a greenfield operation to produce 50,000 metric tons/year of castings.

Ennore Foundries produces gray iron cylinder blocks and heads, and is certified to the ISO 9001 and QS 9000 standards. It’s in the process of securing ISO 14001 certification.

The new foundry will expand the company’s line of products for passenger cars, commercial and utility vehicles, and agricultural vehicles. Plans call for the operation to feature:

• An air-impact and squeeze molding line with a 1,250x900x400/400mm molding box. It would have a capability of 90 to 110 molds/hour;
• A sand mixer with PLC-base compactability controller, and a sand cooler.
• Melting via medium-frequency induction furnaces.
• A channel-type holding furnace.
• Press pouring / auto pouring.
• Cold box and shell coremaking.
• Hanger-type shot blasting machines and snag grinders.

No equipment suppliers or contractors were named for the project, and the timetable has not been detailed. Ennore Foundries executive director A.V. Deodhar explained to FM&T that the added capacity and its existing capabilities – including patternmaking with a CNC copy milling machine using CAD/CAM and PRO-E workstation – will help the company to build its reputation as an exporter of automotive castings.