The company, which came to Detroit in 2014, already produces 6 million units of knuckles and steering parts for VW, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., said Alfredo Newman, senior human resources manager for Sakthi.

Once the new building is complete by next May, the 200 new hires will bring the company's Detroit workforce to 700, Verma said.

"We look forward to future growth in Detroit," Verma said Friday during a formal groundbreaking ceremony with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

The expansion is Sakthi's third since 2014, when the company began production of its steering parts in the former ArvinMeritor building.

In 2015, the company added 100 jobs at its plant at 150 American Way St. in southwest Detroit. Last year, the auto parts maker opened a new aluminum foundry in the footprint of where the former Southwestern High School's football field once stood.

"Another year, another expansion, another 200 jobs — and Lalit, we're going to find you some more room," Duggan told the Sakthi CEO.

Sakthi purchased the closed high school and plans to begin using more of it for office and warehouse next year, Verma said.

"We will start pretty soon utilizing the high school, too," Verma told Crain's.

Sakthi began construction of the new 60,000-square-foot facility a month ago, Newman said.

Since moving to Detroit, the Indian-owned auto parts supplier has made a concerted effort to hire parolees and Detroiters with felony criminal records. The company says it currently employs 202 returning citizens.