Electrical equipment manufacturer Havells India has formed a 50:50 joint venture with China's Shanghai Yaming Lighting Company Ltd to set up a lighting products unit in China. The venture, named Jiangsu Havells Sylvania Lighting Co, will invest $50 million and target annual revenue of $100 million in next three years, the company said on Monday.

Havells' Joint Managing Director, Mr Anil Gupta, said the plant is slated to begin production by April. The venture will produce energy-efficient and green lighting products for the Chinese and international markets. The company, which gets half its revenue from Germany's SLI Sylvania that it had acquired in 2007, said in July that it was looking for a joint venture partner in China to boost sales and set up a manufacturing facility.

“Manufacturing in China is commercially more viable,” Mr Gupta said in explaining the reason for setting up the joint venture. Shanghai Yaming Lighting Co, a unit of Shanghai Feilo Acoustics, makes various types of lamps and lighting products in China, Japan, Belgium and the US.

The joint venture, Havells said in a statement, would facilitate constant innovation and quicker product releases in international markets, including a co-owned, reliable and stable supply source in China. Havells already exports products to China, generating $5-6 million of revenue per year. The company has 12 plants in India and six overseas. The initial investment will be funded internally, although the joint venture may consider a debt issue in China later as it scales up production, Mr Gupta said.

anil@thehindu.co.in

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