Tetra Udyog Unveils Major Expansion Plan For India

Tatra Udyog, a joint venture between Czech-based truck major Tatra As and Venus Udyog, has unveiled a major expansion plan for India which includes launch of new range of trucks, technology transfer to its Indian counterpart and a strategic partnership with the public sector BEML.

Tatra As president and chief executive officer Peter A Urban said the board had decided to transfer engine technology to the Indian joint venture which will be indigenised in phases. A new facility for spare parts and engines has already been set up for this purpose.

Urban also said engines made in India will be imported to manufacturing plants in China and Russia under a buy-back arrangement. The demand from this region is around 2,000 engines per year, he said. He also said BEML's facility will be utilised as the public sector firm is already using these engines for its vehicles.

 

Urban said newer models, which can carry higher payloads, will be introduced into the Indian market. Tatra is a leading truck manufacturer and one of the oldest automobile companies in the world.

Tatra Udyog's managing director Lt Gen Ris Kahlon said a total of 123 trucks had been sold so far. By the end of the current fiscal, 75 more trucks are expected to be sold. He said that around 150 to 200 trucks are expected to be sold in 2001-02, considering the fact that the infrastructure sector was yet to take off in the country.

Kahlon said the joint venture had so far invested around Rs 50 crore and another Rs 50 crore would be invested by March 2001. He said there were no plans to float an IPO or plans to increase Tatra as' stake in the joint venture. The joint venture hopes to break even during the fiscal year, he said. Kahlon said the joint venture had been able to meet most of its targets and was hoping to better its performance. He said the models had been fully debugged and were extremely cost-effective.

Tatra Udyog's director Jojo Alexander said even though Volvo had entered this segment recently, Tatra trucks had an edge as they were more suited for high terrain segment.

The Tatra-Udyog's T-815 trucks, introduced for the Indian market, is mainly used in the mining and construction sectors. He said its damage-proof powerline allows operation with least ground clearance since all the functional parts of the chassis are covered and the torque distribution system is protected by the central tube.

Another unique feature was that its independent swinging half axles and concealed central back bone tube chassis provide high level of stability to the superstructure while sectional construction enables variability.