Tata Metaliks inks pact with Japanese firm

Mumbai, July 20 (UNI) Tata Metaliks, a group company of Tata, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with (MoU) with Kubota Corporation and Metal One of Japan.

The joint venture will be called Tata Metaliks Kubota Ductile Iron Pipes and has been set up to boost up the ductile iron pipe making in India.

The Rs 150 crore project, which has been floated to enhance the production capacity to 1 lakh tonne, will be set up at Kharagpur in West Bengal and is expected to commence operations by year 2009.

According to sources, Tata Metaliks will hold 51 per cent of stake in the JV while the Japanese firm will hold 49 per cent stakes.

The company plans to market its prodcts under the brand name ''Tata Kubota Pipes'' in domestic market while in overseas markets it will be sold as ''Kubota Pipes''.

Tata Metaliks pig iron prodcution had jumped up by 31 per cent to 4.19 lakh tonnes in year 2006-07, while the net rose to Rs 781.75 crore.

Promoted by Tata Steel and assisted by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, Tata Metaliks was set up in partnership with Tata Korf Engineering Services as a technology consultant and KTS Brazil as the technology supplier.

Apart from India, Tata Metaliks has operations in Egypt, UAE, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

UNI