Weir to invest £5 m to modernise Hubli plant

Weir Group, which has interest in mining and engineering services in India, is planning to invest £5 million in Weir BDK Valves-Hubli as part of a three-year modernisation plan.

The group last year bought the Hubli-based manufacturer of industrial valves, BDK Engineering Industries.

“The group after integrating BDK Engineering with itself has initiated a project-blueprint to identify key business areas for it to pursue,” Mr Keith Cochrane, chief executive, Weir Group, told Business Line . “Once the blueprint is ready, we will be making the Hubli unit on par with our French manufacturing site. At France, we manufacture safety valves for nuclear, oil and gas, and mining sectors, and [are] catering to Europe and North America.”

Once the Hubli plant is modernised, the group is planning to utilise the base to manufacture speciality valves in Asia and Africa.

Talking about the Hubli plant's modernisation, Mr Cochrane said, “The plan will involve installing additional machinery, upgrading systems and engineering services. Finally the unit will be a base for safety valves.”

“At present Weir BDK Valves business is 80 per cent domestic and the balance is exports. Systematically we plan to turn it around to make it 60 per cent exports and 40 per cent domestic,” said Mr Naveen Ganzum, country head, Weir India.

The group, which has good presence in oil and gas sector and supplies valves to GAIL, is also preparing itself to tap India's civilian nuclear power programme when it kicks off.

“Commercial nuclear programme is a key business for us. We are involved in this sector through our speciality valves manufactured at our French factory. For Indian market. we plan to make them at Hubli,” said Mr Cochrane.

Through Weir Minerals-India, the group provides equipment for mining and power industries, specifically pumps, valves, cyclones and other aggregates.

COMMENT NOW