subject: Thai Floods Affect Indians In India And Thailand [print this page] The recent floods of Thailand have threatened to disrupt supplies of components to Indian carmakers. This comes after recent recovery from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Thailand is a key turnkey center for Japanese carmakers and the current environmental issues' impact is being felt right in India. Thailand and India has a standing trade agreement where car parts are imported with a lower imposable tax duty. This existing arrangement has made many companies opt to undertake importation of components from Thailand.
Toyota, which has a major subsidiary in India, projects that the full extent of the effects of the floods can be assessed by the first week of November. The carmaker sources many of its engine and transmission parts from Thailand. These then are used for Fortuner and Innova model vehicles.
According to Shekar Viswanathan, Deputy Managing Director at Toyota's subsidiary in India, the impact would not be as immediate as there is still inventory to cover factory requirements until the middle of November. After such time, the future is murky because of the floods. This is most especially acute for Tier 1 and Tier II users and suppliers. The previous Japanese disaster affected both supplies and quality levels and this is also expected in light of the Thailand disaster.
As of the moment, the water flooding has stretched to nearly six million hectares of land from Chiang Mai province and parts of the capital city of Bangkok, especially areas near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Seven major industrial estates have been under three meters of water and the flooding is expected to ease up only after forty days.
Indian citizens in the capital city have not been spared the onslaught of the floods. Many have opted to remain though in their homes, vainly trying to keep the rising floodwaters from engulfing their homes. Many Indians have opted to set up their homes in the Chang Mai province industrial estate area, to be near many of the technology and manufacturing plants where their services are much needed.
This flooding though is not new to the country. Seasonal flash-flooding occurs in the Northern provinces and is carried to the other areas through the Chao Phraya River and then brought into the Chi and Mun Rivers before flowing into the mighty Mekong river. Because of the higher precipitation, multiple dam systems, irrigation canals and basins have been constructed but it has not helped ease the flooding in the region.
