Lincoln Electric invests $ 20 mn on India unit

CHENNAI: US-based welding equipment manufacturing company Lincoln Electric, on Monday, inaugurated its manufacturing unit for the Indian market at Chennai. The NASDAQ listed company has invested US $ 20 million on the plant, located inside the Mahindra World City special economic zone at Maramalainagar near Chennai.

The company, which has been selling premium segment welding equipment imported from its plant at Cleveland, USA, in India, will manufacture mid-segment welding consumables in this plant for selling locally. Consumables are raw material like electrodes, roda, wires and fluxes which are ���consumed��� during the welding process.

���We have grown at a CAGR of 46% in the Indian market from 2003 to 2008, and the share of Asia in our global business has risen from 5% to 22% from 1998 to 2008,��� said Lincoln Electric Asia Pacific president Thomas A Flohn. ���We felt our volumes had reached enough scale in India to set up our own unit here.��� He cited the growth of the infrastructure sector and the planned spend on infrastructure as potential demand for the company���s consumables.

The unit near Chennai is spread over an area of 14.215 acres, with a built up area of 17,200 sq. m. in the first phase. ���Presently we have a capacity to manufacture 12-13000 metric tonnes (MT) per year; but the building can hold a capacity of 80,000 MT,��� said Lincoln Electric South Asia MD Ganesh Gurushankar. ���We have employed 50 trained diploma holders at the unit.���

Mr.Flohn also mentioned that the company was open to acquiring medium and small players in the sector as its target was to grow as fast as possible, not necessarily through the organic route.