The Finnish Metso Group, a global supplier of technology and services for mining, construction, pulp and paper industries, is expanding its range of products and services in India.

Mr Bertel Langenskiold, President, Paper and Fibre Technology, said India, one of the fastest growing markets for pulp and paper is important for Metso's growth. It will expand its products and services across all its areas of operations.

Mr Langenskiold who was in Chennai to address the 27 {+t} {+h} Metso Pulp and Paper Customer Days 2010, which for the first time is being organised in India, said, I would guess that the next major investment would relate to service side for pulp and paper and mining industry. I cannot say any numbers on how much, but it has to match the growth planned. Metso is confident that its growth in these areas in India will exceed the industry growth rate of about 7 per cent.

The Metso Park coming up in Rajasthan, will start with manufacturing facility for mining and construction and extend to other product lines. Metso Power, launched to manufacture boilers, will handle the engineering and outsource manufacturing to Indian partners, he said.

Orders for Power unit

Mr N.K. Jain, Director, Sales & CRM, Metso Paper, said that Metso Power India, launched in Chennai in 2008, for the supply of recovery boiler for pulp and paper industry recently bagged a 12 million (Rs 71.53 crore) order from Grasim Industries. It will supply boiler for the Harihar unit in Davangere, Karnataka. This is Metso Power's first order in the pulp and paper sector in India. It will soon get into power generation boilers also, he said.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Langenskiold said that India is a strategic market for Metso in pulp and paper and other sectors. The group, which had started out in Scandinavia, had, in the last decade established a manufacturing network in China. While it has been in India since 1980s, it renewed its focus in the pulp and paper industry in 2000.