Thermax Fuji 3rd Phase Of Expansion Completed

Thermax Fuji Electric Ltd, a joint venture between Fuji Electric of Japan and Thermax, here has completed its third phase of expansion, involving an investment of Rs 17 crore, to manufacture smart pressure transmitters.

The joint venture is targeting the countrys Rs 1,000 crore-per-annum process control instrumentation market. Within the next three years, the company hopes to grab an over-ten per cent share in the domestic market which is dominated by Fisher Rosemount, Yokogawa-Blue Star and Tata Honeywell, among others.

According to S S Kittur, managing director of Thermax Fuji, its foreign partner has shown interest in importing sub-assemblies.

The Indian joint venture will also meet Fuji Electrics worldwide requirements for components. Fuji Electric, a $9 billion multi-national corporation having its presence in over 40 countries, has a 49 per cent equity stake in the JV while the balance 51 per cent is held by Thermax.

The JV has also embarked on a full-scale indigenisation programme, involving production of critical cells which involves hi-tech precision manufacturing a facility which is presently in the domain of a few countries like Japan, France and the US.

Fuji Thermax was set up in October 1996 to manufacture and service transmitters, controllers, recorders, flowmeters, distributed control systems and allied software for a wide range of industrial applications. The company achieved a turnover of Rs 16 crore in fiscal 1997-98.