The Hindu Business Line : Schwing Stetter sees robust demand for ready mix concrete

Chennai June 21 The tangible and intangible benefits of Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) work out cheaper than site-mix, says Mr Anand Sundaresan, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter (India) Pvt Ltd.

The concreting equipment manufacturer, a 100 per cent subsidiary of SCHWING GmbH Germany, manufactures the complete range of ready mix equipments from batching plants, transit mixers to pumps used for placing the concrete.

Mr Sundaresan told Business Line that a RMC unit being computer-controlled produces concrete with optimal use of cement sand and aggregates, thus reducing the wastage and error that is associated with in-site manual mix.

Infant stage

He stated that the Indian industry was still at an infant stage with only 5 per cent of the total cement production going through RMC as against 60-65 per cent internationally.

Schwing Stetter (India) made a turnover of Rs 600 crore in the last ended fiscal and has grown at an annual rate of 62 per cent over the past eight years. The company hopes to achieve Rs 850 crore in the coming year. The MD claimed that the target could be much higher but for the shortage of both domestic and imported raw materials.

The company had earlier faced difficulty in finding bigger chassis to mount large sized transit mixers. Tata Daewoo will now offer bigger chassis for our equipments, said Mr Sundaresan. He also hopes that with Benz going for expansion this problem would be partially solved.

Growth story

Domestic market accounts for 95 per cent of Schwing Stetter's (India) revenue. "There is a big boom in construction, road, airport and power projects. In 2006, alone we have sold 80 per cent of what we did between the whole of 1999 (since the company started) and 2005. This year we will do 60 per cent more than what we sold in 2006. That is the kind of growth we are seeing," said Mr Sundaresan. The company's clients include some of the leading infrastructure companies such as Larsen & Toubro, Punj Lloyd and Gammon India.

Mr Sundaresan said that it would help to set up a unit in North India, given the high logistics cost involved in transporting finished products. "We are working out the economics. But there are issues of avoiding duplication and administrative efficiencies, if we are closer to the Chennai plant."

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