Luminous Teleinfra to set up two units in Himachal

Manesar-based Luminous Teleinfra Ltd, an SAR group company, is setting up two manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh with an investment of Rs 200 crore to manufacture deep-cycle telecom batteries, power management units, power conversion devices and innovative solutions for reduction in operating expenditures and carbon emissions for telecom operators.

The company will also provide turnkey site preparation services for telecom cell sites all over the country, leveraging its competencies in supply chain and project management, and network design and implementation.

Speaking to Business Standard, Luminous Teleinfra Director & President Paresh Pradhan said: “We are setting up two manufacturing units in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh, one for the telecom batteries and the other for power electronics.

The telecom battery unit will have a manufacturing capacity of 1 billion ampere per hour (Ah), while the power electronics unit will have the capacity to produce 50,000 units per annum”.

In the first phase, we will invest Rs 100 crore in the project and another Rs 100 crore in the second phase.”

The firm has started work on the project and is expecting to complete it by the second quarter of 2009-10. It is being financed by the promoters’ equity and term loans by banks.

Pradhan said: “We have developed unique technologies for enhancing energy efficiency in telecom Base Transreceiver Station sites. These will enable the use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power to substantially reduce operating expenditure and carbon footprint for telecom operators in India and developing countries all over the world.”

IVCF, a subsidiary of IFCI Ltd, has taken a minority stake (less than 5 per cent) in the company. IVCF is investing Rs 16 crore. Pradhan said in the near future, the company would dilute its equity.

Rakesh Malhotra, managing director of Luminous Teleinfra Ltd and founder of SAR Group, said: “We view this investment by IVCF as a validation of the business model of Luminous Teleinfra Ltd and the company is looking forward to a great partnership with IVCF in the future.”

“The market size in the telecom passive infrastructure space for our products and services over the next few years in India and the developing world will be well over $6 billion. In addition to rapidly scaling up capacities, the company will also pursue acquisition opportunities overseas,” Malhotra said.