Telecom boom drives ebm-Nadi expansion

ebm-Nadi International, an Indo-German JV engaged in the manufacture of industrial cooling fans, has expanded its manufacturing operations by investing Rs 30 crore in establishing a second production unit near the existing factory at Erukkenchery near Chennai. The new factory is expected to go on stream by January 2009.

The second plant comes on the back of robust demand for cooling fans in the telecom sector in the country. As most telecom service providers are seeking to expand the operations, ebm-Nadi sees big business potential to sell its energy-efficient cooling fans that could be used in telecom shelters under the mobile towers.

The telecom boom in India is giving ebm-Nadi a clear advantage as the company's fans come with cutting edge technology as well as back-up services, J B Kamdar, managing director, ebm- Nadi India, said.

Thomas Borst, managing director, global sales and marketing, ebm-Papst Group, Germany, said that the group sees India as an important, fastgrowing and technology-driven market.

The group is committed to improve infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities of ebm-Nadi on an ongoing basis. ebm-Nadi expects this expansion drive to help it maintain its position as market leader in the Rs 250-crore industrial fans market.

ebm-Nadi, a 51:49 joint venture between Euro ebm-Papst of Germany and Nadi Airtechnics, Chennai, has been growing at a 300 per cent peg over the past three years, on the back of robust growth in the telecom, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and industrial electronics segments.

The company posted revenues of Rs 42 crore in 2006-07 and expects to end the current fiscal with revenues of Rs 110 crore.