Calcutta, April 26: Flakt India is poised for fresh takeoff under its new UK-based parent Flakt Woods Group.

After nearly a decade of turmoil with various transnational giants led by Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) experimenting with Flakt India and its products, a company with the same name was registered afresh in Chennai in June 2002 as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Flakt Woods Group.

Anil Baijal, who was a senior manager in Siemens India, has been appointed chief executive officer and Aloke Mookherjea, former chairman and managing director of Flakt India, has become non-executive chairman of the company.

Against a gross sales of about Rs 23 crore in 2002, the company board has forecast a turnover of Rs 28 crore for 2003, Mookherjea said.

The company has two units — one in Calcutta and the other in Chennai. While the Calcutta unit is engaged in manufacturing industrial fans of limited capacity, the Chennai outfit designs and manufactures heavy-duty large-size industrial fans. The Chennai unit has so far been underutilised because of lack of orders, while the Calcutta unit has functioned properly.

The board of Flakt Woods is considering a proposal to convert the Chennai outfit into a ‘centre of excellence for design and engineering’ of heavy-duty industrial fans to cater to the neighbouring countries.

Originally promoted by Swedish engineering major Flakt group, Flakt India was a market leader in air pollution control equipment, industrial airconditioning and ventilation, industrial drying system used primarily in paper and pulp units, industrial paint and finishing system and industrial fans till early 1990s.

Swiss-Swedish conglomerate ABB bought over Swedish engineering company Flakt Worldwide in 1989 and the merger of Indian outfit was completed in 1994.