Kirloskar Pneumatic becomes subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers Investment Ltd

PUNE: Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Ltd, a Rs 527 crore transmission and compressor maker part of the Kirloskar group, has become a subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers Investment Ltd, with the promoter group's inter se transfer of shares. Kirloskar Brothers Investment Co now holds a 50.58% stake in KPCL from May 20, following the share transfer.

The two major Kirloskar group companies, Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (KOEL) and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL) had separated the manufacturing from the investment arms last year, forming investment companies. While members of the promoter group declined to comment, this is seen as part of a restructuring of the group and a kind of succession planning. The current top management of the group represents the fourth generation of the promoter family.

Meanwhile, KPCL has set up a subsidiary company of its own, Kirloskar Road Railer Ltd, to run its ambitious infrastructure foray into multi-modal transport. The formation of Kirloskar Road Railer follows an agreement it signed with the Indian Railways in March for the manufacture and deployment of a rake, comprising 50 bogies, on the Delhi-Chennai route.

The project will go online by the first quarter of the next fiscal, KPCL chairman, Rahul Kirloskar, said, adding that they will invest Rs 40 crore to run the service. KPCL will assemble the rakes at its Nashik plant under licence from the US-based Wabash Corporation, while Kirloskar Road Railer Ltd will run the service.

So far, KPCL has invested Rs 20 crore in a project estimated to require an outlay of upto Rs 100 crore.