L&T to enter JV with Toshiba

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 07 March 2007, 18:30 IST
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Mumbai: Japan’s Toshiba Corporation is in talks with Larsen & Toubro for setting up a joint venture in India to manufacture power plant equipment. An L&T official substantiated, saying that the discussion with Toshiba are at the preliminary stage and the proposal is to set up a facility for making turbines for power plants. A senior L&T official stated that, "We are talking to them (Toshiba) but are yet to finalise any details." A news agency report from Tokyo said that L&T would hold majority stake in the joint venture, which will invest around $173 million to build plants for steam turbines and power generators. A report quoting the Nikkei business daily said that the joint venture endeavors to have an annual turn over of 20 billion yen in five years. Toshiba has been expanding its power business, last year it also acquired the US nuclear power plant maker Westinghouse for $5.4 billion. L&T’s entry into the power sector follows its recent tie-up with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, another Japanese major, for manufacture of boilers for power projects. The collaboration –L&T Boilers Ltd- plans to invest 450 crore. An analyst stated that L&T appears to be preparing itself to take advantage of the huge investments coming up in the company’s power sector. The few major Indian players, in the boiler segment include Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. L&T has been expanding its presence in this segment. L&T shares gained 3.17 per cent to close at 1, 427.60 on BSE on Tuesday.