Virgo sets up valve manufacturing facility at MARG Swarnabhoomi

CHENNAI, November 9, 2011(Tehelkanews)

The Rs.700-crore Pune-based Virgo Engineers Group, is expanding its valve manufacturing capacity by setting up a new plant, Virgo Valves and Controls Chennai, at MARG Swarnabhoomi near here.Virgo Valves and Controls Pune, a part of the Virgo Group, is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of flow control valves and allied products predominantly for the oil and gas sector. Virgo Valves and Controls Chennai is a division of Virgo Valves and Controls Pune.

After inaugurating the new facility here on Monday, Jagdish Desai, CEO, Virgo Engineers Group, told presspersons that the large plant (one lakh sq. ft. spread over six bays) at MARG Swarnabhoomi would give an opportunity to ramp up production capabilities.Mr. Desai said in the first phase, the company had invested Rs.30 crore (without machinery). Another Rs.25-30 crore would be invested in the next two years.The Chennai plant would manufacture ball valves up to 12 inches in the first six months and from thereon would manufacture 24 inches ball valves.With this Chennai unit, to be operational in two stages with 24,000 valves a year respectively, the total capacity would rise to 2.88 lakh units from the existing 2.40 lakh valves. The products would be exported to the U.S. and Europe, he said. The company was expecting to register a revenue of Rs.20 crore this year and Rs.50 crore in the next full year of operation of this unit.

GRK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Group, said, already Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos, Vanspall\'s only unit outside U.K. for manufacturing cooling tower equipment, Polyhose for auto component manufacturing were operational at MARG Swarnabhoomi. Mr. Reddy said other industrial units in the pipeline were: Eswari Electricals, Chennai (letter of intent signed), for distribution equipments; Techpro (letter of intent signed) for manufacturing equipment relating to water treatment plants; MoU signed with Twindisc for marine transmission devices and with TVS Kwikpatch for auto components. Besides, discussions were in an advanced stage with a robotics equipment manufacturer who had evinced keen interest to se up a facility at MARG Swarnabhoomi, he said.

Virgo Group has manufacturing plants in India, Italy, Germany and the U.S.Mr. Desai said in India, Virgo already had two units in Pune and one in Coimbatore. The company was also in the process of becoming a fully integrated valve company by setting up a state-of-the-art foundry at Coimbatore which would be completed by the end of the fiscal year to manufacture and supply valve castings to its manufacturing units.V. R. Jayaraman, Director (Projects), Virgo Engineers Group, said the company had registered a turnover of Rs.700 crore in 2010-11 which was expected to touch Rs.1,000 crore by 2011-12. Exports constituted 80 per cent of total sales. In the domestic market, the company was selling its products to major oil companies — ONGC, Cairn India, Reliance, HPCL and BPCL.


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