Date:31/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/31/stories/2006033100130400.htm

Back Fair winds

R. Balaji

The district is a pioneer in windmill tower fabrication

POWERING PROGRESS: A windmill tower manufacturing plant in Tiruchi. Picture by R. Balaji

Fabricating windmill towers is powering the growth of engineering industries in Tiruchi. The district makes about 60 per cent of the windmill tower requirement in the country.

According to Mr K. Premanathan, Managing Director, Anand Engineering Products Pvt Ltd, over 1 lakh tonne of steel has been converted to towers in the current year and in the next year, this is expected to grow to 1.7 lakh tonnes.

The business is doing `fantastically well', is how he puts it. Over 4,700 MW of wind power generation facility has been put up and the potential is pegged at 10 times that amount. Even by a conservative estimate, the market is bound to be strong to last up to 2011 in Tiruchi, says Mr Premanathan.

Wind power equipment suppliers, who are their customers, supply the steel and the companies in Tiruchi convert them for a cost of about Rs 22 lakh a tower. Last year alone, over 800 towers were made in Tiruchi by about 10 manufacturers and Anand Engineering made about 300.

Tiruchi's location at the centre of Tamil Nadu gives it a good reach to the other States in the south. Business is bound to be concentrated here.The industry is also talking of exporting towers to countries such as Australia.

Most tower manufacturers are looking at expansion. Anand Engineering has invested over Rs 50 crore in the last two years and an additional Rs 30 crore is in the pipeline. The banks are upbeat at the business prospects and funding is no constraint, says Mr Premanathan.