Svedala Set To Go On Stream

Svedala Industri AB, the giant Swedish manufacturer of mineral processing and construction equipment, is all set to commence manufacturing operations at its site in Bawal, Haryana.

The plant, incidentally, is Svedala's only manufacturing location in Asia, the others being located in Europe and the US.

The $2 billion company is investing nearly $4 million in the first phase of the project. The unit, being set up by the Swedish major's 100 per cent subsidiary, Svedala Industri India, will be manufacturing civil engineering equipment and sand and gravel processing plants along with mineral processing equipment. The Swedish major also plans to export a portion of its production.

Depending on the market for such equipment, Svedala India will be deciding on the next phase of investment, Jan Sandberg, chairman of Svedala Industri India, said. "The growth in the infrastructure sector will be primarily responsible for our growth here," he said.

The company is also interested in acquiring smaller units in the area in which it operates, and is on the look out for opportunities in this regard. The Swedish parent grew through a number of acquisitions including of Tidco, Sala, Dynapac, and the French crushing company CFBK. The company based in Malmo, Sweden, is a world leader in development and production of equipment and systems for infrastructure, which find use in construction, mining, mineral processing and bulk material handling sectors. Each business area has separate own research and development, marketing and manufacturing operations.

More than half of its $2 billion turnover comes from developed countries where infrastructure already built and is largely maintained. Svedala sees the Asian region, particularly India, to be actively building its infrastructure making it one of the fastest growing regions for Svedala.

Moreover the per capita consumption of steel at around 26 kg and cement at around 58 kg in the country compared with the world average throws up immense potential for the growth of infrastructure related business, according to the company.

The company has already bagged a number of orders from upcoming Civil engineering projects and iron and steel plants in the country. It is setting up the pelletisation plant at Bellary for the Rs 4000 crore Jindal Vijaynagar Steel venture. The pelletisation plant is crucial to the project since it will use the Corex process in which iron ore pellets are used in the iron making process.

It has also been associated with Essar Steel's steel complex in Hazira, pelletisation plant at Vizag and the beneficiation plant at Bailadila.

The setting up of the manufacturing plant which will be operational in early May will be the last stage of the a series of efforts taken up by the company since 1993 when it began by establishing a sales and support organisation only.