The Hindu Business Line : Kalyani group acquires German engg company

Pune, Sept. 3 The Kalyani Group, a domestic player in the auto component sector, today announced 100 per cent acquisition of RSBconsult GmbH (RSB) of Germany as a strategic step towards entering into the high-growth wind energy sector.

RSB is a design and consulting house and has more than 150 man-years of cumulative and international experience in the wind industry.

Mr B.N. Kalyani, Chairman of the Kalyani Group, said: “We are already present in the wind energy sector, both as a wind farm operator as well as a supplier of components. The group is positioned to further enhance its role in this sector as a wind turbine manufacturer.”

There are two strategic leverages in the wind turbines business – product technology and supply chain management, he added.

With the acquisition of RSB, Kalyani Group will have a design and engineering team to take care of product technology.

The German company would bring in global supply chain capabilities and engineering skills to drive the global business model and help manage Asia-Pacific markets and operations from India.

“Wind turbines require a number of forged, machined and other metal components. Our foray into this business will provide opportunities within the Group to create a global component supply to OEMs and Tier I companies in the industry.”

Mr Kalyani also said that the Group has plans to target the fast-growing renewable energy market; it would initially focus on Europe and India and, by 2010, expand to other key markets such as the US and China.

The annual size of the wind energy sector business is about 20,000MW globally and 2,000 MW in India.

Global long-term growth rates are expected to be more than 16 per cent; by 2010, the global market would be 30,000 MW.

Based in Muenster, Germany RSB was set up in September 2003 by designers from the wind industry as a design and consulting house.

The company has end-to-end design capability – from components to wind turbine systems – and is currently working on wind industry projects with customers across Europe as well as in China, Japan and India.