The Hindu Business Line : Aqua group to pump in funds, diversify

COIMBATORE-BASED Aqua group, which manufactures water pumps for agriculture and domestic application, plans investment to strengthen its existing engineering production infrastructure.

The group also plans to diversify into newer products, taking advantage of its huge casting facility and capital goods pool.

Mr R. Kumaravelu, managing partner, told Business Line that the group would invest about Rs 35 crore this year. But he gave no details of the diversification programme. The company is also expected to step upexports from the existing 7 per cent of sales turnover.

Rated one of the region's top three players in water pump manufacturing, Aqua group is an integrated pump and electric motor manufacturing company with a foundry and motor stamping facility. For operational convenience the group is divided into Aquasub Engineering and Aquapump Industries.

"We are setting up our second foundry with monthly production capacity of 1,000 tonnes. With this our casting capacity will shortly go up to 1,500 tonnes. After meeting our captive needs for about 700 tonnes a month, we'll be able to spare the rest for other businesses," said Mr Kumaravelu.

With an all-India market for its water pumps, the group's product range include submersible pumps (both for open-well and bore-well), mono-blocks and jet pumps as well as electric motors. With the bulk of its water pumps focused on agricultural use, it also produces pump-sets for domestic application.

Its turnover has grown fromRs 25 crore (in 1990) to Rs 200 crore-plus (expected for 2005-06). The year-on-year growth for its pump products is largely attributed to the vast demand from the agriculture sector. Efforts to build a dealers' network in interior villages have also paid off for the group.

The group sees a growing market for its three phase mono-block pumps, owing to rising urbanisation and construction of high-rise buildings.