TAL Manufacturing Solutions, the Tata Engineering subsidiary formerly known as Telco Automation, has ventured into engineering consultancy and information technology (IT) services. It is planning to tap the overseas markets as the sluggish performance of the domestic industrial sector has left it with little scope for growth. The company, which had done the installation and commissioning of the Rs 1,700 crore Indica project for Tata Engineering before being hived off into a separate company in March 2000, is planning to "spread its costs over a global base".

TAL, which was created by spinning off Tata Engineering's growth and machine tools divisions, has recently set up its first dealership at Detroit, US, to market its consultancy services in the heart of the global auto industry. Y Nath, managing director, TAL Manufacturing Solutions, said, "We want to cover our costs and compete on a global basis. Business in the domestic machine tools manufacturing sector, estimated at just around Rs 400 crore, is not showing signs of growth. In addition to manufacturing machines and maintaining them, we are now getting into providing customised solutions for manufacturing-related activities."

The newly created division -- engineering consultancy services -- will target the software side (programming) of automated machines at plants, in addition to their upgradation and upkeep. TAL primarily does automation work for a number of two-wheeler companies in India -- work related to changing plant configuration to produce new models and variants. However, it has met with limited success within the passenger car segment.

Currently, half of the company's business originates from its parent, Tata Engineering. TAL is also trying to get a foothold in other sectors, including white goods, Nath said. The Rs 90-crore company is at present making losses, largely due to significant expenses on account of deferred revenue expenditure. TAL has recently halved its workforce from around 1,400 to 700 employees through voluntary retirement schemes. However, Nath is hopeful of making cash profits from the current fiscal. He did not reveal the loss figures.