L&T entering into manufacturing heavy duty forgings

Larsen & Toubro, the country’s biggest engineering conglomerate, is bridging a ‘missing link’ in its portfolio. It is setting up a facility for manufacturing heavy-duty forgings. The initial investment for the unit would be to the tune of Rs150 crore.

Very few companies in the world make heavy-duty, single-piece forgings weighing 50-100 tonnes or more. L&T’s forgings division will be to heavy engineering sector, what Bharat Forge is to the automobile sector. L&T has so far depended on external vendors for heavy tonnage forgings. As a result, the forgings often took more time to be delivered than the rest of the equipment, which the company fabricated in-house. With an in-house forging unit, the company will be able to control its delivery schedules better and avoid project execution delays.

The conglomerate’s future plans include making Oman a manufacturing base, with capacities mirroring its massive Hazira complex. Oman currently helps it serve firms in the Middle East, besides the home-grown ONGC.