Heavy Engg Corp to enter rail coach manufacturing biz

Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd is contemplating an entry into the rail coach manufacturing business in the near future, (HEC) Chairman-cum-Managing Director G K Pillai said today.

HEC is firming up plans to tie-up with a foreign partner to manufacture both passenger and freight coaches, said Pillai, who is also the chairman of the Jharkhand State Office of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The company held discussions with leading Italian coach manufacturer, Keller, at Ranchi yesterday in this regard, he added.

He said the first round of discussions with Keller was satisfactory and another meeting was expected to be held soon to finalise a prospective tie-up, he said.

 

Referring to HEC's performance, he said it had improved in the past four years. "We have been registering profit during the period," he said.

Asked about the CII's role in Jharkhand, Pillai said Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda had sought the industry chamber's cooperation to put the state on the map of domestic and foreign companies seeking to set up various units.

Munda has focused on sectors like road and electricity for fuelling industrial growth, he said, adding that there were also plans to set up a 1,980-MW (3x660-MW) power plant, for which 34 players had submitted an Expression of Interest.

However, land was a major constraint for industrial growth in Jharkhand, as in other parts of the country. In addition to compensation, landowners demanded employment in lieu of their land, but they lacked the required skills, he said.

He said the state government should take appropriate steps to impart the required skillsets to labourers in the state to help attract industry.