Mukand joins hands with Bekaert to set up steel wire plant

Mumbai, Sep 5 (UNI) Country's leading speciality steel producer, Mukand today announced a joint venture company with Belgium-based world's largest steel wire manufacturer Bekaert Industries.

The new company, Mukand-Bekaert Stainless Steel Wire Industries, will have a 50:50 partnership, at an initial investment of Rs 100 crore.

The deal will be done in a debt equity ratio of 1:1, as per which both the companies will invest Rs 25 crore each while the rest will be debt.

''The joint venture Company will be set up in Lonand in Maharashtra and will have a total production capacity of stainless steel wires at around 12,000 tonnes. Company will recruit 130-140 people for this in the first stage,'' Mukand Co-Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh V Shah said.

Mukund, which posted an annual turn over of Rs 2,078 crore in fiscal year 2007, has a wide set of products in hand that include steel bars, wire rods, bright bars in over 400 grades and has plans to enter in the booming global market of heavy duty electric overhead travelling (EOT) in near future.

''We expect the operations of the new joint venture to start in 24 months and target to double the production in another 3 to 5 years.

The boom in Indian automobile market has signed good for the industrial prospects as steel wires are a main component of vehicles,'' Bekaert Industries Managing Director said.

Mukand is part of the Bajaj Groups of companies, one of the biggest business groups in India and has manufacturing facilities in Kalwe, Thane and at Hospet in Karnataka.

Indian stainless steel wire market is estimated to be at the size of 25-30,000 tonnes and is growing at around 10 per cent per year as against a global production of 1 million tonne per annum with an average annual growth rate of 6-8 per cent.

UNI