Concrete construction equipment maker to invest ₹350 cr.

Schwing Stetter India, a mechanised concrete construction equipment maker, has chosen Tamil Nadu over Maharashtra for setting up a ₹350-crore greenfield plant due to proximity to seaport and the presence of a huge vendor base, said a top official.

“Earlier, we were scouting for land in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to set up a greenfield project as the existing facility is completely stretched out,” said Anand Sundaresan, vice-chairman and MD, Schwing Stetter India Pvt. Ltd.

“Tamil Nadu scored over Maharashtra due to proximity to seaports and [the presence of a] strong vendor base,” he said.

Internal accruals

The new facility would come up on 53 acres at Sipcot Industrial Area in Cheyyar, Tiruvannamalai District. The ₹350-crore investment would be made in two phases. About 25% of it would come through internal accruals and rest via borrowings.

“Today, we paid the cost of land to Sipcot. Registration should happen soon and we plan to commence operations by September 2019. Initially, we will provide jobs to 250 people and this will double in two years,” he said.

The plant would produce some existing products, new products and boom pumps. It would meet the infrastructure demand of India and export needs of Asia and African markets, he said.

The company already has a plant at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

In 2017, the firm recorded a turnover of ₹1,550 crore against ₹1,530 crore in 2016. For 2018, it hopes to touch ₹2,000 crore.

Mr. Sundaresan said the increase in turnover would mainly come from introduction of new products, trading of products of parent company, booming infrastructure industry and 20-22% growth in the sales of existing products.

“Currently, we are covering markets including East Asia, Africa, Singapore and Malaysia. Going forward, we will cover many more countries. But, first, we will cater to local market demands,” he said.