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Despite a head start in India, having delivered the first paper machine to Meenakshi Paper Mills way back in 1924, the €5.2-billion Voith GmbH is now looking to significantly scale-up its presence here by reinventing the wheel, well over a quarter of a century later.
The Heidenheim, Germany-based firm, is working hard to create a new market for industrial services outsourcing, whereby Voith would take over the maintenance of a manufacturing unit, while leaving the company to concentrate on its core function. The company is in talks with a bevy of automaker, including market leader Maruti Suzuki, for orders on the lines of the job bagged by its industrial services division at Fiat India's Ranjangaon plant in Pune, where it has full responsibility for the maintenance of the paint shop.
The company, which manufactures a range of products including paper plant machinery, turbines for hydroelectric plants and locomotives, is betting on a renewed India focus to drive up the firm's turnover nearly four-fold to €550 million over the next five years, Dr Hubert Lienhard, President and CEO, Voith GmbH, told Business Line .
He is bullish on sectors such as oil and gas, paper, transportation and automobiles to provide the growth impetus that would drive up sales in the Indian market from the current €150 million. Hydroelectric equipment orders too are a focus area, though growth could be sluggish in the wake of slow progress by project developers.
Admitting that the company's presence in India was well below potential, Dr Lienhard said: “We are not big enough in India… That's something that we want to change in the coming years.” Voith, which has supplied equipment to manufacture around one-third of the world's paper and generate 30 per cent of the cumulative global hydroelectric energy, has a strong presence outside Europe, especially in developing countries such as Brazil and China.
Pick up in orders
In line with the renewed Indian focus for Voith, a pick up in big ticket orders in the last five years is visible, including supply of final drives and couplers for the Delhi Metro Rail project, supply of hydropower equipment for 520 MW Omkareshwar hydel project in Madhya Pradesh and the 450-MW Baglihar hydel project in J&K, besides the Fiat plant paint shop order.
Dr Lienhard said the company will be using its Vadodara plant, which is currently making hydropower equipment, to step up activity in the Indian market in the coming years.
Voith, which is one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe, has also set up an engineering centre in the country for small hydropower plants (up to 30 MW in capacity), which will serve its global engineering needs. Acquisitions are also on the radar, as well as tie-ups in India, such as a joint venture inked with Coimbatore-based Flow Links Systems for making valves for the oil and gas industry.
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