Greaves sells polymer unit to Bhansali Engg

Greaves, one of India's leading engineering companies, has sold its polymer facility to the Maharashtra-based Bhansali Engineering Polymers for Rs 12.45 crore.

The board of Bhansali Engineering today informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that that its board has approved the takeover proposal.

Bhansali Engineering closed at Rs 141.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, down by Rs 2.25 over its previous day's close of Rs 143.90. Greaves, however, appreciated by 10.44 per cent to close at Rs 46.55.

While the move could be seen as Greaves exiting non-core business operations, it is in line with Bhansali Engineering's expansion plan.

For the financial year ending June 2003, the polymer business accounted for a meagre Rs 1 crore of Greaves' turnover, while the engines business contributed Rs 346 crore during the same period.

The polymer manufacturing unit is located at Abu road in Rajasthan and. The polymer business, formerly Rajasthan Polymers and Resins (RPRL), was merged into Greaves following a rehabilitation scheme sanctioned by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction in 1997.

RPRL was promoted by Greaves Cotton and Company (now known as Greaves) and Rajasthan Industrial and Investment Corporation in technical and financial collaboration with Plastperabotka and Russia-based MGO Technochim.

Greaves has eight manufacturing plants located all over India. It manufactures a range of industrial products including diesel engines, generating sets and gearboxes and is the largest manufacture of internal combustion engines in India.

The company also manufactures combustion engines, power transmission systems and construction equipment. Greaves is also into high technology systems for marine, aviation and electronic applications.

Bhansali Engineering Polymers, which has a technical tie-up with Sumitomo Chemical Engineering Company of Japan, manufactures acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins and has an installed capacity for 15,000 tonne per annum of ABS resins.

The company is now planning to increase ABS resins capacity to 30,000 tonne per annum as it expects a growth in exports as well as an increase in domestic demand.