The US continues to be a strong market for Wheels India Ltd. (WIL), said Srivats Ram, Managing Director of Wheels India.
In a virtual interaction with the media on Friday, he said that shipments to the US comprised 45 per cent of the company’s total exports in the first-half of the current financial year.
“Despite the global uncertainty and lack of clarity on how the tariff issue will play out, we achieved a 20% export growth in the first-half,” he said. He expected the export momentum to continue in the second-half of the year as well. “There has not been much of a negative impact because of the tariff issue,” he said.
About 26% of the overall revenue for Wheels India comes from exports. “Out of this, the contribution from the US is about 45%. The US has grown more than any other overseas market for us in the first-half. The demand for our products is very strong in the US,” he said. To a query, he said exports in the second-half were likely to be in line with the first-half.
Capex plan on course
On capex plans for the year, he said that Wheels India was sticking to the CapEx (capital expenditure) of Rs 250 crore for the year. “We have already spent over Rs 100 crore in the first-half and, based on our demand pipeline, we expect to spend the rest in the second-half.
To a question, he said, “we service customers wherever they want us to. We have had global customers for 2-3 decades and it is a steady ongoing business. The prospects are fairly strong on the exports front. We are also getting additional business through launch of new products”.
Asserting that Wheels India was cost competitive, Mr Srivats Ram said, “we have good customer access in the construction equipment and agri tractor segments. We believe we can get Rs 500 crore additional business in the international market in this segment.”
Tractor wheel plant
Wheels India, he said, had set up a tractor wheels plant at Mambattu. He expected exports from this plant to begin in Q3. “In the cast aluminium wheel segment, we have won business. That will play out in the next 12 months. We are investing Rs 100 crore capex in the machining of large castings in the wind mill segment and are also investing in equipment related to large wind mills. Exports will start kicking in next year. We also have opportunities in the domestic market in the wind mill segment,” he said.
The managing director said that Wheels India had a good pipeline in both domestic and overseas markets. He saw a strong demand for the hydraulics cylinder business going forward. On the hydraulics cylinder partnership with South Korean firm SHPAC, he said that the company could, if required, add capacity in the next year. “Some of those customers are looking at de-risking and we are hoping to leverage that opportunity through this partnership,” he added.
Air suspension business registered a 29% growth in the first-half. He was hopeful that this momentum would continue in the second-half. “We expect to grow much faster than the market in this segment,” he said.
The GST rate cut, he said, had given some fillip to the demand in the domestic market. On the outlook, he said that he expected the momentum to continue in the second-half and profit growth too should be in line with the first half. “We believe we have enough leg room to grow faster than the market in the next 2-3 years,” he said.
27% jump in Q2 net
Wheels India has registered a 26.69% rise in its net profit for the Q2 ended 30 September 2025 at Rs 28 crore as compared to Rs 22 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Revenue for Q2 ended 30 September 2025 went up 8.63% to Rs 1,179 crore as compared to Rs 1,085 crore registered in the Q2 ended 30 September 2024. Despite the uncertain global scenario, Wheels India registered export revenue of Rs 299 crore in Q2, a growth of 15.6% over the same quarter in the previous year. According to Srivats Ram, strong demand in air suspension and tractor wheels powered the growth in the domestic segment while exports continued to do well.
