Escorts eyes component supplies for Metro, Monorail

Farm and construction equipment major Escorts today said it will widen its railway product offerings to tap the Metro and Monorail segment in India so that it can achieve its targeted turnover of $1 billion by 2012.

The company, which has three verticals -- farm mechanisation, engineering products and construction equipment -- has a plant at Rudrapur, in Uttarakhand, which produces railway equipment.

"At present, we are supplying different kinds of parts to the Indian Railways for passenger and freight. The next step for us is to participate in the Metro and Monorail projects in India," Escorts Joint Managing Director Nikhil Nanda told PTI.

The Faridabad-based company sees huge potential in the Metro projects being taken up in cities, including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, and also the Monorail project in Mumbai.

Escorts has set a target of clocking a turnover of over $1 billion by fiscal 2012.

So far, in the first nine months of the ongoing 2009-10 fiscal (the company follows an October- September fiscal), the company has posted net sales of Rs 2,078 crore, up 33 per cent from the year-ago period.

In the 2008-09 fiscal, the company had registered net sales of Rs 2818.05 crore.

Asked if the company is on track to meet its 2012 turnover target, Nanda said: "We are well within the track."

On the possibility of exporting Metro and Monorail components, Nanda said: "Yes, we will explore opportunities."

The company has been a leading manufacturer of critical railway components for the last 40 years, producing parts like shock absorbers, couplers, brake systems and brake blocks. The products are exported to over 15 countries worldwide.