Klinger to expand presence in India
By Usha Somayaji | 17 Jun 1999
Switzerland-based Klinger AG plans to expand its fluid control business in the country by adding ball valves to its range of products in Uni Klinger Ltd, a 40:60 joint venture with the Neterwalla group.
"Klinger sees an interesting market for top quality high-end products," said Thomas Klinger-Lohr, the Swiss group's executive chairman, speaking to domain-b. He says Klinger is confident of carving a ten per cent share in the Rs80-crore ball valves market in India.
Klinger AG, a $300-million fluid sealing and fluid control group, has been in the business for 112 years. It is a pioneer in both asbestos and non-asbestos gasket sheeting, and is the largest manufacturer of gasket sheeting in the world.
The new facility will be built with minimal additional investment at the Uni Klinger plant at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. The company already makes piston valves, level gauges, strainers and steam traps at this plant, which is the fluid control division of Uni Klinger.
Uni Klinger commissioned a new 1,500 tpa asbestos fibre-based gasket sheeting plant at Koregaon Bhima, 35 km north of Pune on 15 June 1999. The new plant which forms the fluid sealing division of the company was put up with an investment of Rs 15 crore. "About 25 per cent of the investment has gone into putting in place international standard safety and pollution control measures in the unit," says Donald Monro, regional managing director, Asia/Pacific/Africa, of the Klinger group.
"The plant is equipped to switch over to non-asbestos based fibre for gasket sheeting," says Mr Monro, and the production line can be modified depending on market demand. According to him, asbestos based fibre was being used in the plant since "ninety-seven per cent of the Indian market demand is for asbestos based gasket sheeting". He cites the high price differential between asbestos and non-asbestos based fibre as the reason.
Feroze Neterwalla, director with the Rs 250-crore Neterwalla group, expects the new division to break even by the end of the current fiscal. "Uni Klinger will close March 2001 with a turnover of Rs 30 crore, of which Rs15 crore will come from the new division," said Neterwalla.
The gasket sheeting goes into making gaskets used in the high temperature, high pressure, aggressive media applications in the petrochemical, petroleum, automotive, refinery, fertiliser and chemical industries. "We will be targeting the top end of the 18,000 tpa gasket sheeting market," Neterwalla says.
