National track

Mallika Srinivasan, after acquiring Eicher8217;s three plants in north India few months back, is looking to add more punch to her north Indian TAFE foray. She has lined up modernisation plans of Rs 100 crore for one of these plants located at Mandideep Madhya Pradesh. Srinivasan is not only trying to consolidate Eicher8217;s considerable presence in the lower horse-power segment but is also eyeing the higher 90 horse-power segment. She is optimistic that technical upgradation and broadening of portfolio will take her now bigger companies8217; market share from 22 per cent to 25 per next year. After moving her logistics and supply chain systems to a more central location, Mallika also expects her operational efficiency to go up significantly. To corner a big share of the 15 per cent growth that the tractor market is expected to register this year, she is prepared to stretch the capacity of the Mandideep plant and has already initiated an additional shift of work. Observers say Mallika is in a hurry to get over the 8216;8216;primarily south Indian Company8217;8217; tag that TAFE has acquired over the years. But how soon she is able do that will largely depend upon her marketing initiatives and actual success in the key north Indian markets.

Shoe horn

Shoemaker Adarsh Gupta of Liberty has made an interesting diversification into ceramic sanitaryware. The tycoon has set up a Rs 100 crore state-of-the-art production facility at Neemrana in Rajasthan. Gupta8217;s enthusiasm ensured he could make a greenfield venture operational in ten months. Driven by a technical collaboration with SACMI Imola of Italy the new venture, known as Liberty Whiteware, will produce sanitaryware of international quality.The domestic market for sanitaryware, worth about Rs 700 crore, is growing at 10-12 per cent annually. Liberty8217;s diversification, though lacking synergy of any kind with Gupta8217;s core biz, may not quite be a bad move, as the tycoon expects his new business to be worth Rs 200 crore in three years. But one wonders what has driven the tycoon on this 8216;8216;unrelated diversification8217;8217; path, for his footware to do well both on the domestic and export fronts. Earlier, he had struck a footwear export deal with the world8217;s largest retailer Wal-Mart. As this diversification doesn8217;t appear to be driven by 8216;8216;distress8217;8217; in Gupta8217;s shoe business, there is more to Gupta8217;s diversification than meets the eye.

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