Escort targets Ghana

Escorts Ltd is gearing up to make agricultural machinery products in Ghana. It plans to enter into a joint venture agreement with the Ghana government for a unit to assemble the machines.

“We expect to clinch a deal with the government agency within the next two to three months,” Shenu Agarwal, the company's business head, said on Thursday.

Agarwal was here to launch the company's latest range of generators that were intended to be more environment friendly.

He said the generators were equipped with fuel-efficient engines and had safety features that could be controlled electronically.

Escorts is also scouting for local partners to join hands for the proposed venture in Ghana.

“We are targeting the developing and under-developed countries where power is still a problem. Africa is one of them. We are already in the process of building a sales network there,” Agarwal said.

Escorts' agricultural machinery division accounts for about 60 per cent of the company's business. It had reported a turnover of Rs 2,050 crore in 2007-08.

“As a group, we are targeting a turnover of Rs 2,300 crore in this fiscal,” Vivek Malik, deputy general manager (sales), said.

Escorts, which has a 10 per cent market share in the generator segment, plans to increase it to 30 per cent over the next three years. About one lakh generators are sold in the country every year.

“At present our product portfolio, ranging from 10 KVA to 32.5 KVA, caters to about 70 per cent of the market. We wish to complete the portfolio, starting from 5 KVA to over 200 KVA, in the next few years,” Agarwal said.

Escorts is setting up an automated manufacturing facility to make diesel generator sets at an industrial estate near Joka. The unit will be spread over a 50,000-square-foot area.