Telcon to invest Rs 180 crore in Dharwad

Telco Construction Equipment Company (Telcon), the Rs 1,800 crore joint venture between Tata Group and Hitachi of Japan, is on an expansion spree.

The equipment maker is in the process of enlarging its manufacturing capacities at two of its existing facilities at Jamshedpur and Dharwad in Karnataka.

Telcon is investing Rs 180 crore to increase production capacities at Dharwad and also set up a design-cum-training centre. The company owns 120 acres in Dharwad, which makes some of its equipment.

Telcon aims to add one more assembly line and a paint shop at the facility, Rana Sinha, managing director, Telcon said. "We are also seeking some additional sops from the state government," Sinha added.

"The move to expand our capacities at these two plants in addition to a new facility is to cash in on the boom in the infrastructure sector. We are already the biggest manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment in the country and see a huge opportunity opening up in the sector. We wish to consolidate our presence by bringing in new products," he said.

According to Sinha, the company had seen this boom a couple of years back and decided to expand capacities by setting up a greenfield facility at Kharagpur, West Bengal over 350 acres at an investment of Rs 600 crore.

The plant is scheduled to commission the Kharagpur plant by 2011 in three phases

Telcon is also looking at inorganic growth opportunities to expand its business in India and abroad.

"We have shortlisted a few firms and are in talks with several construction equipment firms in the US and Europe. We will finalise a deal by March."