BEML forms JV for assembly plant in Brazil

Bangalore, Sept 16: Bharat Earth Movers Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Defence Ministry, has signed an agreement with CCC (Compagnie Comercio E Construcoes) of Brazil for setting up a joint venture company for manufacture and supply of rail wagons and bogies, mining and construction equipment and spares.

The MoU was signed by visiting BEML Chairman and Managing Director V RS Natarajan and CCC Proprietor Darci Rodrigues in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia on September 12, a company release here said today.

BEML would hold 60 per cent share in the joint venture and invest Rs 100 crore by taking over a factory on the outskirts of Rio-de-Janeiro city in Brazil. The factory had adequate infrastructure to take up manufacturing equipment in the near future with a capacity to roll out 500 wagons and over 200 earthmoving equipment and spares annually, the company said.

Given the growing demand in the Brazilian market and other South American countries in terms of expansion of mines and offtake of wagons, this joint venture would help BEML penetrate into new market overseas. It would also help BEML to consolidate its leadership position in construction and mining machines and railway products in the mineral-rich territory of Brazil, it added.

UNI