Crompton Greaves: Entering Nepal with Gift

One after another of India’s Thapar Group companies are entering business partnership with Nepali companies. In December 1999, Crompton Greaves Ltd., an electrical engineering and IT major of India, which presently is also involved in building the National Internet Backbone back home, announced its entry into Nepal’s telecom and power sectors by signing an MoU with Nepal’s Chaudhary Group. This followed another of Thapar Group companies, diesel and auto engineering major Greeves Ltd., which appointed Morang Auto Works only two months back as its distributor in the kingdom.

To mark the announcement of the new tie up that is being projected as a ‘millennium alliance’, Crompton Greaves presented Nepal Telecommunication Corporation with a TDMA-PMP MARR system which is worth Indian rupees 1 million, according to the company sources. In this connection, K.K. Nohria, Chairman and Managing Director of Crompton Greaves Ltd. was in Kathmandu. Business Age asked him about his company’s plans for Nepal and here are the excerpts of the brief interview:

Would you tell us briefly about your company?

Our company is the largest private sector electrical company in India. We have basically four business areas. One is in the area of power where we produce equipment for the small hydel projects. And we make transmission and distribution equipment right upto 400 KV, the highest in India. Secondly, we have our industrial system where we make motors and pumps and alternators. Thirdly, we make consumer products – fans, lightings and appliances. And fourthly, is the IT and telecom where we do the networking and make complete telecom products from the telephone set to the exchange. Overall, we have twenty-six manufacturing divisions. We had Indian Rs. 18000 million turnovers this year.

Would you share your experience in developing rural telecom services?

The C-DOT, which we are offering to Nepal has proved very successful and trouble-free in India. It does not need much maintenance or attention. Therefore it is very rugged and very suited to the Indian and Nepali rural environment. As far as our experience with Nepal is concerned, the first which we are giving is the switch. After they try it and feel comfortable, then hopefully we will be able to play a bigger role.

What would be the cost of the equipment?

Basically, the cost of the equipment depends on how much equipment you buy. What we are offering today as a gift is only one million rupees worth of equipment. The demand will be much higher.

What is the significance of this alliance between Crompton Greaves and Chaudhary Group?

If you want to enter any territory or any country in a serious manner, then you need a local partner who understands the country and everything else. So the significance of this alliance is that we finally have a mechanism in place, which can help us exploit the opportunities and to understand the country.

What are your future business plans for Nepal?

I think the future business plans would depend on how many opportunities we will be able to identify. Rs. 500 or 600 million worth of investments might come up in the next few years.

By Business Age Reporter

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