General Engineering Business have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Widia (India) Ltd., Bangalore, for the marketing of their complete range of cutting tools and mining tools worldwide under the Tata International banner.

Sudhir Deoras, MD of Tata International and Gred Wagner, MD and CEO of Widia (India) Ltd., signed the MoU on 23 March 2001. Other executives present were A. K. Sethi, P. J. Dajee, Rajesh Sharma, Rajiv Malhotra from Tata International and Ajeet Khare, deputy MD and  Ajit Agarwal DGM from WIDIA (India) Ltd.

Widia (India) Ltd. is the leader in the cutting tools industry in India having 40 per cent of market share.

Widia (India) Ltd. was started in the year 1967 with a manufacturing base at Bangalore. The company offers tungsten carbide tools and various specialised products to the Indian customer. Widia’s product range features metal cutting products, metals forming products, mining products and special purpose machines.

Widia is a pioneer in hard metal technology, a position that has been achieved through constant innovation to match consumer needs.

Mr. Wagner made a presentation on Widia, giving a briefing about the group and its operations in India. Mr. Deoras briefed Widia about the operations of the Tata Group and Tata International. This was followed by a presentation by Mr. Sethi on the General Engineering Business of Tata International and the strategies of the Maintenance, Repairs and Operations (MRO) division.

Mr. Deoras, along with other members of Tata International, were taken on a plant visit where Mr. Wagner and Mr. Khare briefed them about their manufacturing set up.

MRO division is a new initiative of General Engineering Business. This division has been set up with the objective of promoting B2B business through Global e-market exchanges and also play the role of a consolidator to MNCs for various MRO items from India.

The initial focus of the MRO division is to concentrate on the entire range of cutting tools and abrasives and simultaneously broaden the product basket of MRO items by adding new product groups like welding electrodes, fasteners, hand tools, packaging material, safety products, etc., through Tata International’s global sourcing network.

Tata International’s strategy is to become one of the leading exporters of cutting tools and abrasives items from India and to achieve this objective we intend promoting these items both through online and offline channels.