The Tata group company, which is the marketing agent for P&H/Kobe, a joint venture between P&H of US and Kobe of Japan, will also provide Coal India with after-sales and maintenance service. The order is being funded as part of the World Bank's $1.1-billion loan being extended to Coal India to expand its operations.

The supply contract will prove to be a shot in the arm for Voltas, which is struggling to come back into the black after two consecutive years of recording losses, the first time in the company's history. Voltas is also getting out of non-core areas and consolidating its core business of air-conditioning and engineering. Its engineering division has entered into several marketing arrangements with international heavy-engineering companies.

Voltas, as part of itsconsolidation strategy, has decided expand the scope of its marketing tie-ups. It feels that as infrastructure investment begins to pour in, it will open up "good opportunities" for the company. The Tata group company's engineering business group is broadly divided into five divisions - machine tools, material handling, mining and construction, pumps and projects, and textile machinery.

The company had recently sold off its chemicals division to group company, Rallis, while the white-goods division was hived off into a joint venture with Electrolux AB.

Subsidiary Voltas International has also been bagging major orders, including several from the Middle East. It had also bagged the mandate to supply electro-mechanical systems for Hong Kong's airport project, which Voltas claims is the biggest order received by an Indian company abroad.