When Harish K. Sheth, Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Setco Automotive Ltd, returned to India more than thirty years back, he chose Kalol in Gujarat as the site for his manufacturing business. Besides the emotional fact that his father came from this region, the local authority was also keen to develop it. Moreover it is located near Baroda, which offered good educational facilities. 

Since then, Setco's Kalol facility has evolved into an excellent manufacturing plant accounting for the Company's majority of production. "The Kalol plant has played a major role in Setco's rise as the largest manufacturer of clutches for Medium and Heavy commercial vehicles in India," Sheth says.

The next horizon for Setco is to become the preferred clutch of choice in the global arena too. Sheth wants Setco to sell at least one out of every three clutches sold in the commercial vehicles segment and one out of five clutches sold in the farm tractor segment globally.

And he believes that the Kalol plant with its excellent manufacturing infrastructure, testing facilities and state-of-the-art R&D facilities will play a key role in accomplishing this target. "Importantly, good availability of skilled manpower in the region is an encouraging factor for us," Sheth adds. The Machinist magazine paid a visit to the Kalol plant to get an overview of the facilities progress.  

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