Xomox Sanmar's valve making facility goes on stream

Xomox Sanmar Limited on Tuesday inaugurated its valve manufacturing facility at Viralimali near Tiruchirapalli. The greenfield plant would cater to power plants in both domestic and export markets.

Xomox Sanmar is a joint venture between Sanmar Engineering Corporation (SEC) and US-based engineered industrial products manufacturer Crane.

SEC president Sriram Ramakrishnan said the plant would have a capacity of 5,000 high pressure valves a year. The unit would manufacture both manual and motorised valves for the power sector and process industries. The initial investment in the facility was Rs 30 crore, he added.

According to N Sankar, chairman of Sanmar group, India is building large power plants of over 100 Mw in the super-critical category. This would boost the demand for power valves.

The company would primarily cater to thermal power plants, ultra mega power plants and captive power plants.

The industry (valves production for power projects) is estimated to be around Rs 250 crore and likely to touch Rs 350 crore over the next three years. The company had set a target to capture Rs 100 crore of this, he said.

For exports, the main focus market would be the US, since Sanmar’s technology and equity (49%) for this venture is from the US. The company has got orders from Brazil too.