KONE inaugurates new Rs 450 crore manufacturing facility in TN

Elevator and escalator manufacturer KONE on Tuesday inaugurated its new manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur near here.

The facility built at an outlay of around Rs 450 crore would employ 600 people and serve Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka besides domestic market.

The elevator manufacturing unit at Pillaippakkam, SIPCOT Industrial Park in Sriperumbudur is spread across 50,000 square metres.

According to company officials, the plant is the largest in India, South and South East Asia.

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Industries Minister M C Sampath, Finland minister for foreign affairs Pekka Haavisto, KONE Corporation, President and CEO, Henrik Ehrnrooth, KONE India, Managing Director, Amit Gossain took part in the inaugural.

"We are very pleased to inaugurate this state-of-the-art factory in India. The expanded facility will help KONE cater better to our customers as well as meeting the demands for a growing elevator market here in India and neighbouring countries", the company CEO said.

Gossain said the new unit aims at leveraging digitisation opportunities and speeding up development in a changing business environment.

"To meet the growing demand, we have set up this factory in increased manufacturing capacity. We also significantly invest in research and development and create expert manpower for providing operation and maintenance services," he said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Pekka Haavisto said, "India and Finland enjoy friendly as well as dynamic commercial relationship with exports and imports showing substantial annual increases".

"India is one of the fastest growing economy and Finnish companies actively participate in this economic development. Indian Information Technology businesses are also establishing their presence in Finland", he noted.

Tamil Nadu Industries Minister M C Sampath said the State was among the top industrialised states in the country and one of the most coveted investment destinations due to its strategic location.

"It is a pleasure that KONE has set up this outstanding factory in Tamil Nadu and I am looking forward to a better future for Tamil Nadu's economy," he said.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit also expressed pleasure over KONE choosing SIPCOT Industrial Park in Pillaippakkam to set up the largest facility in the region.

"We welcome this investment project from KONE Corporation which brings high-end technology solutions and jobs..", he said.

The factory is equipped with latest technology in production, reinforcing KONE's customer focused strategy to provide the most competitive, highest quality products with short delivery of time.

Around 80 per cent of the components would be produced locally and the plant is eco-efficient and designed according to green rating systems.