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Ambar Singh Roy

Kolkata , March 25

MACNEILL Engineering Ltd has floated a 50:50 joint venture in Colombo with a Sri Lankan industrial group for export of forklift trucks and other material handling equipment on CKD basis, to begin with.

The joint venture company, christened Macneill Engineering Colombo Ltd, would assemble the consignments that are imported on CKD basis before selling them in Sri Lanka.

There are plans are afoot to set up a plant in Sri Lanka for manufacturing forklift trucks and other material handling equipment, according to Mr Pradip Churiwal, Chairman & CEO of Macneill Engineering Ltd.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Churiwal said the proposed manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka would entail an investment of $2 million in the first phase and this amount would be generated from local sources.

In the months ahead, Macneill Engineering Ltd would seek orders from Bangladesh before venturing out to other SAARC countries.

Macneill Engineering Ltd, an erstwhile company belonging to the Williamson Magor Group that was referred to the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction, was taken over by the Startrack International Ltd Group headed by Mr Churiwal in January 2004 under a share transfer deal along with inherited liabilities totalling Rs 16 crore.

Since then, efforts have been made to bridge the gap between the installed and operating capacities at the company's manufacturing facility here.

From 4-5 forklifts a month in April 2004, operations at the plant here have been ramped up to manufacture more than 20 forklifts a month at present.

According to Mr Churiwal, Macneill Engineering's turnover in the year ending March 31 is expected to be around Rs 15 crore. In the next fiscal, this is expected to go up to Rs 30 crore.

Sales of battery-operated forklifts manufactured by the company - which is its main offering - have received a fillip with the implementation of the Zone 22 regulation which makes it mandatory for all hazardous industries to use spark-free forklifts.

"We are the only manufacturer of spark-free forklifts in India and there is a substantial difference between the price at which we sell our forklifts and the landed cost of the imported ones", Mr Churiwal said, adding that the company was soon expecting a Rs 10-crore order from a big private sector company.

The company's existing clients include ITC, L&T, Ranbaxy, Tata Motors, SAIL, BHEL, HLL, P&G, Indian Airlines and Mother Dairy, among others.

Mr Churiwal said that liabilities to the tune of Rs 5 crore had been cleared till date. The balance liability of Rs 11 crore would be wiped out by end-March 2006. While Macneill Engineering was already generating operating profits, a cash profit of Rs 5 crore was expected in the fiscal 2005-06.

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