Tata Hitachi to pump in Rs 200 cr into R&D despite slowdown

Tata Hitachi, a leading construction equipment company is planning to invest Rs 200 crore over the next two years in research and development and plant upgradation over the next two years despite slowdown in the industry.
"The board has approved the investment proposal looking at the future. And now the same would be placed before the promoters for their approval," Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Ltd (previously known as Telcon) MD Ranaveer Sinha said.
Tata Hitachi is a 40:60 JV between Tata Motors and Japanese major Hitachi.
"We will find ways to finance it. Among the options to fund the investment, we may go for fresh equity or preferential capital from promoters," Sinha said.

However, Sinha pointed out the company is facing a difficult time as capacity utilisation is only 30 per cent across all their three plants - Kharagpur (West Bengal), Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and Dharwar (Karnataka).
"There is a slowdown in infrastructure sector in the country. In the first six months (April-September 2013) business was down 16 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year, Tata Hitachi senior advisor and director Shoji Lino said.

Sinha hoped in the current year the turnover could be around Rs 2,500 crore as against last fiscal's Rs 2,700 crore.
The company was also exploring export of components in a big way and was having discussions with few companies, including the Hitachi group.

West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee, who inaugurated a new range excavators today, hoped industrialisation in the state would pick up in West Midnapore district at Goaltore where the state has 1000 acres of land and already some Korean companies had shown interest.