Hyundai eyes oil sector

Company plans engineering facility focused solely on oil sector

South Korean engineering behemoth Hyundai plans to set up an engineering company in India, focused solely on the petroleum sector.

"We will set up an engineering company in India to work on on-shore and off-shore petroleum projects all over the world," president of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd Daniel CS Ahn told the media on the sidelines of the Korea-India Business Summit Organised by the CII.

Hyundai, which is working on projects near Mumbai, has already hired 60 Indians. "We are working on projects around Mumbai and have hired local talent for it. The quality of engineers in India is very good and we will utilise this by setting up an engineering company in India," Ahn said.

He said that Hyundai would start hiring aggressively for the engineering company next year and its head-count in India could initially touch 200.

"The engineering company in India will work with our similar set-ups in other parts of the world. We will try to expand our global business by establishing an engineering company in India," Ahn said.

He did not disclose the investment the company planned to make in its Indian subsidiary.

"This is not something one-off that we are doing. We will continue to expand in India and our investment will keep pace," Ahn said.

Ahn said that the engineering company could be based in Mumbai. "Earlier we had thought of working from New Delhi, but as we were already working on projects around Mumbai, most probably it will be based there," the Hyundai official said.

The engineering company will be a fully-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd. "We are yet to decide on the name of the company," he said.

Hyundai's revenues from working with some of the biggest names in the petroleum business total around $200 million per annum.