Pact power

Ranchi, May 18: HMT Machine Tools Ltd chairman-cum-managing-director G.K. Pillai arrived at Ranchi today to hold wide ranging talks with Ranchi-based Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd (HEC) for joint production and marketing of machine tools throughout the country.

He toured HEC’s plants of heavy machine tools, heavy machine building plant, foundry and forge plants to see the facilities existing at Ranchi.

Whilst the HEC team was led by Pillai, the HMT Machine Tools Ltd side was led by its chairman A.V. Kamat.

The talks were a prelude to a final merger of the two companies, that is likely to make the new conglomerate brand leaders in the manufacturing of small machine tools in the country. The two companies had signed an MoU on April 9 this year for joint marketing of their products, reduce overlapping of functions and eliminate mutual competition.

The union heavy industries ministry has already given the green signal for a final merger of HEC and HMT Machine Tools Ltd, a subsidiary of Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd, in an effort to pull it out of the red.

“Today's talks were a step towards the final merger of the two companies as planned. We discussed joint marketing strategies as HMT Machine Tool has its offices all over the country which HEC could utilise. Both HEC and HMT have similar facilities for manufacture of machine tools and heavy machines which the two companies can profitably exploit,” G.K. Pillai said.