New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS): India's auto component industry's FY21 turnover fell by 3 per cent on a year-on-year basis due to pandemic unleashed disruptions.

Data furnished by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) showed that turnover declined to Rs 3.40 lakh crore ($45.9 billion) for the period April 2020 to March 2021, over the previous year.

The data pointed out that auto components' sales to OEMs in the domestic market declined by 3 per cent to Rs 2.79 lakh crore, while the aftermarket sales fell by 7 per cent to Rs 64,524 crore.

"Exports and imports stood at Rs 0.98 lakh crore and Rs. 1.02 lakh crore, respectively, thus reducing the trade balance to $500 million, the lowest ever; exports declined by 8 per cent while imports by 11 per cent."

ACMA President Deepak Jain said: "The automotive value-chain faced significant disruptions in FY20-21. The nationwide lock-down in wake of the pandemic, one of the severest in the world, put the entire supply chain in a disarray."

"The entire industry took a significant time to stabilise again post the gradual unlocking of the economy. While vehicle sales and production improved quarter-on-quarter from second quarter of FY20-21 onwards, however the first quarter of FY21-22 was once again confronted with another round of disruptions due to the second wave of the pandemic."

In addition, Jain elaborated that the industry faced challenges such as availability of semiconductors, escalating prices, availability of raw materials, non-availability and high prices of containers, among others.