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Prodorite becomes Carborundum arm

M. Ramesh

CHENNAI, Nov. 26

PRODORITE Anti Corrosives Ltd (PACL), a subsidiary of Coromandel Engineering Company Ltd of the Murugappa group, has been detached from the parent company and made a subsidiary of Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI), another company of the same group.

The transfer of the subsidiary takes effect from November 24.

Prodorite Anti Corrosives Ltd, a leader in anti-corrosion engineering, is engaged in the business of manufacturing anti-corrosive materials such as acid and alkali resistant cement, membranes, speciality coatings and floor coatings.

Originally set up as a separate company, Prodorite was later merged into Coromandel Engineering, and for some years it was a division of Coromandel Engineering.

However, it was once again spun off into a subsidiary, which is now being hooked up with Carborundum Universal.

Asked about the move, Mr M.A. Alagappan, Chief Operating Officer of the Murugappa group, told Business Line , that the group felt that Prodorite's business could be better developed if it was a subsidiary of Carborundum Universal.

Apart from the fact that there was ``some technical synergy'' between Carborundum Universal and Prodorite -- both being ``materials companies'' -- Carborundum Universal also had the financial capability to develop Prodorite, Mr Alagappan said.

Now, completely divested of Prodorite's business, the question is, what happens to Coromandel Engineering. The company, which had built several important buildings in Chennai, is no longer a major player in the construction industry.

Notes Mr S. Muthiah, a chronicler, in his recently-published biography of the Murugappa group's, Mr A.M.M. Arunachalam: ``The company (Coromandel Engineering) depends on Coromandel Prodorite and its traditional building division which is content to build and develop only for the group and a few old clients''.

Coromandel Engineering's granite division is up for sale and its arrangement with Butler's of the US, for constructing industrial buildings with pre-fabricated materials, is not any longer competitive.