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Mr David Wallace, Regional Director, Briggs & Stratton, flanked by Mr Rajkumar, Product Manager (left), and Mr Balu Jayaram, Director, Premier Power Equipments, at a press conference in Chennai on Wednesday. — Shaju John

Chennai , Oct. 13

THE US-based small engine manufacturer, Briggs & Stratton, is in talks with a number of Indian companies for transferring technology. Many Indian stationary engine manufacturers have not been able to meet the stringent emission and noise standards of the pollution control boards, Mr David D. Wallace, Regional Director, West Asia, Africa and South Asia, Briggs & Stratton, said at a press conference here o Wednesday.

While the US company is seeking to sell more of its products in India, it is also open to licensing agreements, and hence the talks with Indian engine manufacturers.

The Indian market for stationary engines — such as those used in gensets, pumpsets and lawn movers — is actually shrinking, contrary to a McKinsey study, Mr Wallace said.

However, some room has become available to Briggs & Stratton because many Indian companies have been unable to meet the emission and noise standards, which are the "harshest" in the world. To control noise, the manufacturer would have to place the engine inside a box, which would lead to engine overheating, which in turn would call for a cooling system — all leading to complex technology.

Briggs & Stratton has adopted the strategy of tying up with OEMs which would need engines. Under the first of such tie-ups with a Chennai-based company called Premier Power Equipments & Products Pvt Ltd that has just set up a plant to produce a range of gensets and pumpsets, the US company expects to sell 3,000 units in the first year. The engines that are to be sold in India have been adapted to be able to run on kerosene or LPG.

Mr Wallace said that in about four years, the company could be selling about 40,000 engines in India, making it possible to set up an assembly facility here.

Briggs & Stratton produces 12 million engines every year. The company is setting up a plant in China that will produce a million more from January.

Answering a question, Mr Wallace said that Briggs & Stratton produced most of the components in-house.

He said that most of the cost of an engine was for material, which was the same all over the world. Labour cost works out to a dollar an engine and "nobody can be cheaper than that."

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