Nilkamal in JV with German firm

Mumbai-based moulded furniture maker Nilkamal Plastics has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Bito Lagertechnik Bittmann GMBH (Bito) of Germany for the manufacture and sales of material handling products, racking and shelving systems made up of metals. The proposal was approved at a meeting of the board on March 10.

Meisenheim-based Bito is leading manufacture of bins and containers, shelving and racking equipment and workshop equipment with presence across Europe. The group's turnover in 2005 stood at ¤ 86 million.

Nilkamal group has a turnover of Rs 400 crore. The group has five manufacturing facilities across the country and two joint venture manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The group has a wide array of products in the furniture and crates segments.

The furniture product range comprises of chairs, dining tables, coffee tables, trolleys, shoe racks, multipurpose racks, and baby chairs. Nilkamal recently launched three furniture retail outlets under the banner of '@home' in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

The company plans to set up 50 furniture retail outlets in major cities in three years. It is planning to open about 18 more Nilkamal Home Ideas stores dealing with moulded furniture.

At present, the company has 12 Nilkamal Home Ideas stores. The moulded furniture market has been stagnating for some period of time but Nilkamal has been successful in maintaining growth.