Velan Inc. wholly owned subsidiary Velan Valves India Pvt. Ltd. (VVI) located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, opened its new manufacturing plant in December. The opening was celebrated with a special inauguration ceremony, presided over by President and Chief Executive Officer of Velan Inc., Tom Velan. The Canadian High Commissioner to the Republic of India, Stewart Beck was the guest of honor. Beck spoke on the tremendous growth in Indo-Canadian business and made positive comments about the anticipated signing of the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement between the Canadian and Indian governments.
Managing Director of VVI, Ramesh Babu said, “This new plant will complement the strong sales force we currently have in India. It will target the growing utility power market and the refinery segment. Velan is a preferred vendor to the existing National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) super critical projects and, with the opening of this new plant, we are now physically closer to the customer and will be in a position to offer faster deliveries at competitive prices. Velan products are currently in use in many of the petrochemical refineries, conventional and nuclear power plants, fertilizer plants, and aerospace industries in India and we look forward to strengthening and enhancing our engagement in this important and growing market.”
“India’s energy industries have become an important market for our products and for many years Indian suppliers have been part of our global supply chain. Many of India’s valve manufacturers, machine shops, and forging and casting suppliers are located in Tamil Nadu province so it is a good place to find experienced people and suppliers,” said Tom Velan. “The opening of our Indian production plant represents another important step in growing our manufacturing base in Asia.”
Velan’s investment of approximately USD$10 million into the 100,000-square-foot plant demonstrates the company’s growing commitment to serving the needs of the growing industries in this important emerging country. VVI will begin producing small forged valves and plan to expand into other products that cater specifically to the Indian energy and fertilizer markets in the future.
