Auto components maker Cooper Corporation on Thursday said that it would foray into manufacturing of commercial vehicles, mainly to compete with Tata Motors' LCV Magic, and has earmarked Rs300 crore to set up a plant and expand its facility in Maharashtra in the next 18 months, reports PTI.

The company has also geared up to hit the capital market to raise about Rs150 crore through an initial public offer by the end of this year.

"We are progressively integrating our capability to produce various kinds of modern engines and components, and the next step is to produce vehicles of our own," Cooper Corporation chairman and managing director Farrokh N Cooper said at the 10^th Auto Expo in New Delhi.

The company has started its work to roll out commercial vehicles with six different variants in the 0.5-1.5 tonnes category, which would be like Tata’s light commercial vehicle Magic, in the next 18 months, he added.

"We have a manufacturing facility at Satara in Maharashtra and at present we are constructing a vehicle plant in the same area. The capacity of the plant will be 20,000 units per year," Mr Cooper said, adding that the company would double its staff strength from the existing 2,000 people for rolling out the light commercial vehicles.

When asked about the investment in the new venture, he said that the company would pump in Rs300 crore in setting up a vehicle production facility and expanding the capacity of its plant at Satara.

— Yogesh Sapkale