Chennai, May 18 (IANS): Automobile wheel major Wheels India Ltd has planned a capital expenditure of about Rs 200 crore in FY24, said a top company official.

Speaking to reporters, Managing Director Srivats Ram said the company will be investing about Rs 200 crore this year to ramp up wheel production for commercial vehicles, tractors, aluminium wheels and windmills machining segments.

Last year, the company's capex was about Rs 143 crore.

According to Ram, cast aluminium wheels are looking strong and the first supplies for a vehicle maker happening in May 2023 and another vehicle maker as a customer will be added this year.

Ram said the company has a market share of about 5 per cent in the domestic after market segment.

There is a certain amount of positivity in the domestic market with the demand for commercial vehicles and the government investment in infrastructure should give a fillip in this segment.

As regards exports, Ram said it looked up in Q4 of last year and the expectation is that the trend would continue.

Wheels India is looking at double digit growth to come back this year, though there is uncertainty in the overall global environment.

The company is building on its existing relationships with global customers and getting into new platforms. Overall, this year looks promising on the exports front, Ram added.

Meanwhile, Wheels India closed FY23 with a lower net profit of Rs 65.2 crore (FY22 Rs 79.8 crore) on a revenue of Rs 4,332.1 crore (FY22 Rs 3,686.7 crore).

The Board of Wheels India has recommended a final dividend of Rs 3.97 per share. The company had in January 2023 declared an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share for the FY 2022-23.