Chairman and managing director KK Nohria said at a press conference here on Saturday that the company was likely to divest further in some of its joint ventures to fund the buyback. The total investment in these ventures is around Rs 150 crore which today is valued at about Rs 500 crore, he added.According to Nohria, Crompton Greaves could grow by between 8-10 per cent this year to touch a turnover of Rs 1,700-1,730 crore. These projections have been made on the assumption that there will be no further slowdown in economic growth.Between April and October this year, the company posted a 11-per cent growth in power systems, nine per cent in industrial systems and seven per cent in consumer products. The digital group though has reported a 36-per cent fall from last year's level.

By the end of the currentfinancial, Nohria said, power systems would maintain a 11-per cent growth to contribute around Rs 700 crore (Rs 630 crore earlier) to total turnover. Growth in the industrial division is expected to go up by 15 per cent to Rs 670 crore (Rs 570 crore) and consumer products by eight per cent to Rs 450 crore (Rs 420 crore).

The 36-per cent fall in the digital group is expected to be made up during the coming months to finally culminate in a negative growth of around 1-2 per cent to earn Rs 70 crore. The southeast Asian financial crisis will affect exports, he added.Due to continuous weakening of its stock, Crompton Greaves is considering another restructuring to boost stock value. "We expect the value of the share will go up to Rs 200 by 2001 from the present Rs 31 per share," Nohria said.

Meanwhile, the company has introduced several measures to cut costs.

Trimming staff is one of these and around 1,000 employees have stepped down in the six months through voluntary retirement schemes.

Therestructuring will be completed in a year and a half, he said.The Delhi-based Thapars hold 30 per cent in Crompton Greaves with BTR of the UK accounting for 13 per cent. Foreign financial institutions have around nine per cent, the GDR holding is around 13 per cent, 19 per cent lies with the public and Indian corporates while the balance is held by local financial institutions.