Bicycle maker Starkenn Sports to set up facility in Chakan

Premium bicycle maker Starkenn Sports is planning to set up a facility for assembly and manufacturing at Chakan in Pune to cater to the growing demand for high-end bicycles in the country.

Starkenn is the exclusive distributor in India of Giant bikes, the world's largest premium bicycle brand. The facility is likely to be up and running by the end of 2016 and will have an annual production capacity of 45,000 units.

Starkenn will house the facility at the factory of its joint venture partner Badwe Engineering at Chakan. This will bring down costs to onefifth of setting up a greenfield unit, which usually needs a capital expenditure of Rs 60 crore.

Starkenn Sports will be the first facility in the country that will roll out a high-end aluminium bike with 60% localisation. Key parts would be imported from China, Taiwan and Japan. By setting up a facility in India, the bicycle maker can avoid the high import duty ranging between 40% and 44%.

In the high-end category, Starkenn is a leader in a market with 17 international players such as Trek, CanonDale, Scott and Specialised.