• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Bangalore, March 18 BEML Ltd, a mini-ratna public sector company, has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with NFM Technologies, France, for the manufacture of tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in India.

NFM Technologies is the second largest manufacturer of TBM in the world with a global market share of 20 per cent.

According to a senior executive of BEML, MoA is a culmination of the discussions on technical and commercial aspects of the project with the French company. BEML will have the exclusive partnership for the manufacture and supply of the machine for India and the Asean countries (excluding China), he added.

BEML, which plans to start the production of the machine only after demand reaches a critical mass, will be contributing 30 per cent of local contents by way of major components from its Kolar Gold Fields facility. The French company would be supplying the critical hardware such as power packs and drive systems.

The official did not specify the timeframe for the manufacturing plan.

With metro rail project being taken up across the country, BEML saw a huge potential for entering the manufacture of TBMs in the country. BEML executive said the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd is expected to finalise a tender next month for acquiring about six TBMs, while Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata would be providing a promising market. Both BEML and NFM will explore and exploit the opportunities for supplying TBMs to various projects in India and Asean countries.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | Engineering | Railways

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line