HCEI opens regional office in Kolkata to boost sales

Kolkata, Aug 13 (UNI) Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd (HCEI) today opened its eastern regional office here, in a bid to boost its foray into the construction equipment business in India.

Informing this to newspersons here, HCEI Head (Marketing) Suvendu Moitra said the company aimed at grabbing a market share of 12-15 per cent in the country's construction equipment business in the next three to four years, eyeing an annual turnover Rs 2,000 crore at the end of the same period.

'' The regional office would cater service to West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and northeastern region,'' Mr Moitra told newspersons adding the firm had similar offices in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Betting big on the firm's business prospect in Eastern India, Mr Moitra said the presence of five Coal India Ltd subsidiaries, along with an increase in construction and mining activities, would augur well for its sales.

The HCEI, a Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd (HHI) subsidiary, had already completed setting up a construction equipment production unit in Pune, sprawling over 50 acres and entailing an initial investment of Rs 300 crore.

While the factory's installed production capacity was 10,000 units per year, the company would be producing 2,500 units for the first year, which would commence from this month, he added.

'' The HCEI will manufacture construction equipment, like excavator, up to the tonnage capacity of 20 from its Pune plant and such devices of higher tonnage capacity will be imported from Korea,'' Mr Moitra further informed.

Earlier, the firm used to import the construction equipment from Korea for doing business in India and altogether 300 such machines had been purchased by different private sector companies in the country so far, he said.

Apart from being one of the largest firms in construction equipment business, the HHI has also diversified in the business of ship building as well as engine, machineries and power plant engineering.

The HHI has notched up a global turnover of USD 17 billion (b), out of which its construction business contributed USD 2.1 b in 2007, the head (marketing) said adding the group eyed a turnover of USD 20 b at the end of 2008.

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