Ta Group To Extend Ties With German Group

The Rs 25 crore Hyderabad-based TA group of companies is extending the scope of its collaboration with Germanys EPE group to manufacture filters in India.

The joint venture company with the TA group, EPE Process Filters and Accumulators, is in the process of setting up an exclusive filter manufacturing unit in Hyderabad, which will also carry out extensive research and development.

Talking to Business Standard about the DM 40 million groups expansion plans in India, EPE managing director Vishwa Mitter said the German company sees India as a vast market for its products which are hydropneumatic bladder, diaphragm accumulators and filters.

We had another joint venture with the Ahmedabad-based Bhagwatis, but we are terminating that arrangement and on February 11 we will sign an exclusive agreement with the TA group to manufacture filters in India, Mitter said.

TA group holds 55 per cent equity stake in EPE Process Filters & Accumulators, while EPE has 45 per cent stake. The joint venture company manufactures the complete range of hydraulic and process filters. The group also supplies filter elements as replacements for other makes.

Speaking about the manufacturing unit to be set up in Hyderabad, TA groups director Narender Gauri said: In the upcoming unit, approximately Rs 1.5 crore will be invested in research and development which is an important aspect of growth and adaptation of foreign technology to Indian conditions.

Some of the major customers of EPE Process Filters and Accumulators include the Tata group, L&T, Reliance, Godrej, BHEL, BEML, GAIL, NTPC and SAIL.

Set up in 1982, the TA groups flagship company is Techni Aids, which is the exclusive distributor and representative in India of the products of Switzerland-based Hydrotechnik Frutigen, Vickers and Kawasaki Precision Machinery of the UK.