Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Feb 04, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Feb 04, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Outlook Voltas to enter domestic electro-mechanical market Latha Venkatraman
MUMBAI, Feb. 3 HAVING gained expertise in electro-mechanical projects overseas, Voltas Ltd, a Tata group company, is now aiming to enter this area in the domestic market. "Our HVAC (heating ventilation A/C) business has demonstrated our skill in project management which has lead to building management systems,'' said Mr B.N. Garudachar, spokesperson for Voltas Ltd. Using the expertise acquired from Voltas' project management business, the company would like to enter electro-mechanical projects in India and other countries. "Barring civil work, Voltas is capable of carrying out electrical, mechanical, plumbing and security systems that are required for an intelligent building,'' Mr Garudachar said. Voltas, which was mainly focussing on the Middle-East, is in the process of diversifying geographically. Apart from India, the company is also looking at Europe. It is in the process of diversifying its offering by including sewage management and water management. The thrust towards international operations is expected to double this division's turnover of Rs 130 crore over a three to four year period. Voltas is fairly well entrenched in the HVAC area. While its core strength is in project management, Voltas wants to be a large player in electro mechanical projects. Having merged its subsidiary, Voltas-Air International Ltd with itself, Voltas has set up a division, International Operations Business Group (IOBG) to carry out this business. IOBG has executed various electro-mechanical projects in the West Asian countries including the Bahrain International Airport and the Al Ain Airport at UAE. The company is in the process of executing projects including Cyberport Development Project at Hong Kong, Air Force Base at Al Udied, Qatar, Al Masaood Tower at Abu Dhabi, BHEL Power Plant at Iraq, Third Power System Development Project Phase III at Male, two projects of Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation at Hong Kong and District Cooling Plants at UAE. Currently, 70 per cent of the tender jobs in HVAC are done by Voltas. In the above Rs 1-crore contracts, Voltas has a 75 per cent market share, officials said. Alongside the electro-mechanical project business, Voltas is also focussing on its room air-conditioning business with the launch of `Vertis', a product of the joint venture between Voltas and Fedders International. "The product is of international quality but priced as affordably as Chinese products,'' said Mr Rajesh Kamat, Consultant, Tata Strategic Management Group. According to Mr Kamat, the Vertis range has the latest air purification process involving the use of ozone gas as a purifier. The launch of this range is expected to be undertaken aggressively and the company has put in place a re-invigorated dealer network and will be shortly introducing the advertisement campaign. "We think, Vertis is going to be a category killer,'' said Mr Kamat. The new product range ensures that Voltas is present in the market to benefit from the growth in this segment. Despite the economic slowdown, room air conditioners market has been growing at 8-10 per cent. "We want to capture the retail segment for room air conditioners,'' said Mr Garudachar.
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