Date:22/07/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/07/22/stories/2005072201660800.htm

Back Avi-Oil India eyes synthetic industrial lubricants market

Pratim Ranjan Bose

Kolkata, July 21

HAVING recently commissioned the Rs 20-crore synthetic ester plant, Avi-Oil India Ltd — the IndianOil, Balmer Lawrie and Nyco SA of France joint venture — is looking forward to tapping the synthetic industrial lubricants market.

The new-age product is increasingly replacing mineral oils especially in the white goods and automotive sectors in Europe and North America.

NYCO is a major player in the global synthetic lubricant business catering to demand from the defence, civil aviation, and automotive segments with a presence in over 65 countries.

Sources said that in India, only the refrigeration industry had completely shifted from CFC technology and was using the synthetic lubricants. The existing market size of such products was worth close to $2 million and is currently fully catered to by imports.

Avi-Oil is targeting sales of Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore in 2005-06. The company expects industrial lubricants division to be a major contributor to its business in the immediate future. The growth will be manifold once the automotive industry catches up with the trend in the developed world.

Incorporated in 1993 for indigenous production and supply of aviation lubricants to the Defence and Civil Aviation sectors, Avi-Oil is still the only manufacturer of such products in the country. The company currently caters to 95 per cent of the demand from the defence sector.