Haver Ibau India eyes 500 mln rupees in first year

MUMBAI, July 18 (Reuters) - Haver Ibau India, a unit of German cement-packaging equipment maker, Haver & Boecker, is eyeing a turnover of 500 million rupees in the first year of its India operations starting October, a top official said on Friday.

The company, with a predominantly debt-free parentage, would invest 200 million rupees from internal accruals to set up a assembly unit in the western town of Vadodara, Managing Director, Wilhelm A. Dyckerhoff said in a press conference.

Each machine would have a capacity to package 6,000 bags per hour as compared to 2,000-2,500 bags packed per hour by conventional machines used by Indian cement firms, he said adding it would assemble 12 machines in the first year.

"Around 8,000 tonnes of cement is wasted annually while packing, considering 330 working days with each day having two 10-hour shifts," he said referring to the average production cycle of cement plants in India.

He also said the maintenance cost of Haver's is 30 percent lower than conventional machines.

With the Indian cement industry in a consolidation phase, firms would look at machineries with lower maintenance costs but higher speed and weight accuracy.

Haver Ibau also plans to leverage its parent's association with global players in other countries as the latter expand their presence in India, he said.

Foreign cement firms such as Switzerland's Holcim (HOLN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), Germany's Heidelberg Cement Group (HEIG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) have significantly expanded their presence in India over the last few years.

"Indian cement companies are earning lot of money with a margin of around 30 percent and the demand is not based on price," he said. (Reporting by Kaustav Roy; Editing by Harish Nambiar)