Britain“s BOC Plc, the industrial gas producer, has recently applied to the UK“s Foreign Investments Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its stake in its Indian subsidiary from 51% to 74%.
Currently…
Britain“s BOC Plc, the industrial gas producer, has recently applied to the UK“s Foreign Investments Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its stake in its Indian subsidiary from 51% to 74%. Currently BOC Plc holds 51% while financial institutions hold 27%. The remaining 22% is in the form of floating shares. The company recently increased its authorised capital from Rs 40 crore to Rs 60 crore. Its equity capital is Rs 27.7 crore. “BOC Plc has agreed to invest UK 200 million in BOC India, so long as the latter invests wisely and in the right projects,” Shashi S. Prasad, BOC managing director, said. The company is also looking to set up its own plant near Chennai. “We are in talks with various firms for a tie-up”, said Prasad. However, he refused to divulge any names as no contract has yet been signed. The company will be investing around Rs 60 crore for this build-own-operate (BOO) unit. The unit will be have a capacity of around 120 tonnes per day. At present the company has only one unit at Chennai, which has a capacity of 28 tonnes per day, and an even smaller unit at Bangalore. The company is also working on another BOC project in Jamshedpur, which involves building a Rs 170-crore plant with a capacity of 1,290 tonnes per day. The plant is expected to be operational by mid-1998.