Murugappa group firm TI Cycles opens factory in Punjab

CHENNAI: TI Cycles, part of the Rs 29,500-crore Murugappa Group, has opened a bicycle factory in Rajpura Punjab, from where it will be better positioned to serve the Northern and Eastern markets.

Built at a cost of Rs 105 crore, the factory can produce 2.5 lakh cycles a month and the capacity can be expanded to cater to growing demand. The plant will also be equipped with a 350-kW rooftop solar power set-up for a part of its energy needs. The plant is expected to generate employment of about 3000 people.

Murugappa Group vice-chairman MM Murugappan, said, “We are very happy to be a part of the industrial activity in Punjab. We already have a factory manufacturing Tubes in Mohali which is running successfully. We are encouraged by the positive industrial climate in Punjab and the support extended by the Government.”

At the annual press conference on Tuesday, Chairman of the Board A Vellayan said the Murugappa group on the whole will grow at a click of 20% in the current fiscal, buoyed by the swing in the sugar and fertiliser sectors and its financial services and insurance companies maintaining their growth. The group grew at a 9% rate in terms of turnover, which totalled close to Rs 30,000 crore during the previous fiscal. Vellayan added that his confidence in the growth phase ahead lay in the centre’s quick policy action to free up ethanol production and spur sugar export and similar policy changes in the fertiliser subsidy front.

The company has struck up two joint ventures with Japanese firms for water treatment needs of manufacturing companies and to supply dyes for the automotive manufacturers.