Macneill, Linde sign deal

Macneill Engineering Ltd. (MEL), the Kolkata-based forklift manufacturing company, has turned around and started making profits.

MEL has entered into an agreement with Linde Material Handling, Asia-Pacific, (LMH) to act as an exclusive importer of LMH material handling equipment and service the Indian market.

MEL and LMH signed the agreement on April 20 in Singapore, with Klaus Schwarz, managing director of LMH, signing on behalf of his company, and Pradip Churiwal, chairman and CEO of MEL, signing for the Indian outfit.

Under a parallel agreement signed on the same day, MEL was appointed to import Linde hand pallet truck and act as the exclusive distributor in India.

Churiwal said the MEL had made considerable progress on its proposed joint venture project in Sri lanka with that country's Basant Eenanayeke group of industries.

Application for registration of the company had already been submitted to the Registrar of Companies, Sri Lanka.

Churiwal said MEL expected to start its business at Sri Lanka in a couple of months and would start work on building a manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka after six months.

Initially, the facility will be utilised for assembly of battery-operated forklift trucks and material handling equipment, with supplies being brought in from India in CKD condition.

MEL was also eyeing opportunities in the European and Asia-Pacific markets for export of products.

Churiwal said MEL was close to bagging its first orders for material handling equipment from Hiremech Limited of UK and Richmatt Materials Handling (M) SDN BDH of Malaysia.

Churiwal took over MEL just a year ago, when the sick company was sold by the Williamson Magor group run by the B M Khaitan family.

Churiwal said MEL had achieved turnaround and had already started making profit on a month-to-month basis.

MEL was expected to wipe off its accumulated losses in three full working years, Churiwal added.