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| February 22, 2005 No.1044 | ||
| MHI Establishes Tool Production Company in India With Acquisition of SRP Tools |
| Tokyo, February 22, 2005 - On May 1, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will establish a new company in India specialized in production of precision cutting tools. The new company - tentatively named Mitsubishi Heavy Industries India Precision Tools, Ltd. - will get under way through MHI's acquisition of SRP Tools Limited, India's largest gear-cutting tool manufacturer, to serve as a local production base of MHI's Machine Tool Division. The new company will initially produce gear-cutting tools and progressively expand its lineup to include high value-added products. Through steady business expansion, MHI targets annual sales to increase from SRP Tools' current figure roughly equivalent to 500 million yen to 2 billion yen in fiscal 2007 and 4 billion yen in fiscal 2010. |
The new company will be established at SRP Tools' present location in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu state, some 130 kilometers west of the state capital, Chennai (formerly Madras). The new operation will also oversee after-sale service bases in various locations to provide services throughout India in tandem with Voltas Limited, sole distributor of SRP Tools for Indian market. Voltas is a member of Tata Enterprises, one of India's three biggest companies. The new company will have a capital base of approximately 71 million yen and will employ about 250 workers now engaged by SRP Tools. MHI will assign Kazuyuki Yamashita, the inaugurating president, and a chief financial officer to the new operation. The new company will initially manufacture precision cutting tools including hobs, gear shaper cutters, gear shaving cutters and broaches, all of which presently enjoy a large share in the Indian market. Share expansion will be targeted through enhanced competitive strength to come from incorporation of MHI's advanced technologies. One such technology is MHI's proprietary "SuperDry" cutting, which eliminates the need for conventional cutting fluid. India's economy has been growing steadily since market liberalization was instituted in 1991, and in the process demand for motorcycles and automobiles has been greatly stimulated. Automobile production exceeded one million units in 2003, and is expected to grow at a robust annual rate near 15% in the coming years, thereby causing rapid expansion in demand for gear-cutting tools. While U.S. and European manufacturers currently enjoy the strongest position within the market, MHI aims to expand its business in machine tools, including gear-cutting machines, in all segments of the Indian market through enhancement and acceleration of local operations and provision of solid technical support to local customers. SRP Tools and MHI have been in a technological cooperative relationship for a long time. The company's major customers are motorcycle and automobile manufacturers, including leading local producers based in Japan and Korea. These factors contributed to MHI's decision to pursue SRP Tools' acquisition at this time. # # #
About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 2,373 billion yen in fiscal 2003 (year ended March 31, 2004). MHI's diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, steel structures, power plants, chemical plants, steel plants, environmental equipment, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space rocketry and air-conditioning systems. For more information, please visit the MHI website (http://www.mhi.co.jp). PRESS CONTACT: Hideo Ikuno: h.ikuno@daiya-pr.co.jp Tel: +813-6716-5277, Fax: +813-6716-5929 Daiya PR (in charge of public relations for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.) |
