The Universal-Halwasiya group would hold 51 per cent equity in the joint venture with rest being held by Aral Lubricants Gmbh. The proposal has been cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a UPCL statement said here on Monday. Aral lubricants are manufactured in India by UPCL under an existing technical collaboration with Aral AG, the statement said.

UPCL targets automotive after market through a strategic alliance with Motor Industries Co Ltd (Mica) and the joint venture is proposed to aggressively promote the "areal" brand and expand into the industrial and speciality lobes segment, the statement said.

It said UPCL had a modern manufacturing plant located at Taloja (Maharashtra) with an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tonnes. Aral and UPCL said the proposedjoint venture would further strengthen the association between the two companies and create better awareness of superior German technology among consumers of lubricants, the statement said.

"Aral visualises India's industrial potential and this joint venture reaffirms our faith in the country's economy," division manager international customers, Hans-Hermann Brunhold of Aral Lubricants Gmbh said.

"This cementing of ties with Aral will lead to a stronger presence in the market and we hope to acheive a 2 per cent share of the Rs 6,000-crore lubricants market by the year 2000," UPCL's director Pradeep Halwasiya said.