Shares of Pricol rallied nearly 20 per cent Thursday after the automotive components manufacturer said it will form a joint venture (JV) with NASDAQ-listed Pointer Telocation to provide advanced telematics in India and countries in South East Asia.

"Pricol and Pointer Telocation announced today that they intend to enter into a joint venture to provide advanced telematics and IoT solutions in India and other countries in South East Asia," the company said in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Boosted by the development, shares of the Coimbatore-based company gained as much as 19.23 per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs 58.65 apiece on the BSE, after opening sharply higher at Rs 54.70. During the day's trade so far, the scrip touched an intra-day high and low of Rs 58.65 and Rs 53.05, respectively.

In a similar trend, stocks of company were trading at Rs 56.35, up 13.84 per cent on the National Stock Exchange.

Through the joint venture, Pointer and Pricol will provide a variety oftelematics solution to the customers for both the OEM and the aftermarket segments, the company said in the exchange filing.

Pointer will own 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, while Pricol will control 49 per cent interest in this proposed joint venture.

By way of background, under India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highway's (MoRTH) AIS 140 standard for Intelligent Transport Systems, Vehicle Tracking Systems will become a mandatory feature for all public transport vehicles and commercial vehicles requiring national permit beginning January 2019.

This joint venture will further enable Pointer and Pricol to be the leaders in the Indian telematics market, the company said.

Pointer Telocation is an Israel-based company engaged in development, manufacturing and operation of Mobile Resource Management (MRM) and is also a pioneer in the connected car segment.

Meanwhile, the benchmark index BSE Sensex was trading higher by 172.89 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 35,951.56.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar