MUMBAI, May 9: Wartsila Diesel India, the 51 per cent subsidiary of the Finnish Metra group, is set to take over the operations of NSD India, the marketing arm of the German major Sulzer. This follows the takeover of Sulzer's diesel engine business by Wartsila internationally.

Wartsila Diesel will also change its name in India to Wartsila NSD India. Sources said the company was not going to merge NSD India into it but was taking over its diesel marine engines business in India.

The company will seek shareholders' approval for changing the name at its annual general meeting on June 10. It has, however, refused to divulge other resolutions to be forwarded at the meeting.

The employees of NSD India, 11 in all, will also be absorbed into Wartsila Diesel. NSD India imports marine engines from the parent company and markets them in the country. It already has an installed base of 1,000 marine engines in the country. The company does not have a manufacturing base, however.

"Most Indian ships have the NSD engines installed in them, and the demand for these engines is on the rise. Wartsila Diesel can only benefit from the new range of products," sources said.

"The move will also provide Wartsila with a whole range of two-stroke and four-stroke engines," they added.

Wartsila also imports several diesel models on a commission basis without any value-addition. The merger of the operations could have a positive impact on the bottomline owing to additional income from services and spares from the new marine engines business. The financial details of NSD operations in India were, however, not available.

Wartsila has a virtual monopoly in the DG set market with a 75 per cent share in India. Its operating base for DG sets has crossed 1000 mw in the past one year from 612 mw two years ago.

The demand for DG sets is on the rise as wild fluctuations in the state grid have forced several companies to opt for DG sets to meet their captive use.Wartsila Diesel also operates as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and provides spare parts and maintenance services.

The company recently started producing high-capacity, medium-speed diesel engines and generator sets in the 500kw to 7,500kw range that initially used to be imported from the parent.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.