The group has invested $4 million last year in setting up a construction equipment manufacturing unit in Bawal, Haryana, through its 100 per cent owned subsidiary, Svedala India. This unit manufactures road construction equipment.

In addition to a clutch of investment proposals, Svedala India also proposes to pursue its acquisition drive in the country more aggressively in sync with the parent company's global strategy. It is on the lookout for making at least one acquisition within the coming months in the civil engineering sector to carry out backward integration, according to company chairman Jan Sandberg. Although its attempt did not bear results in the past, the company seems to have zeroed down on possible targets this time.

Since inception, the eight-year-old $2-billion Svedala group has embarked on a well-defined acquisition strategyworldwide and brought an impressive array of companies under its umbrella that cater to an entire gamut of needs involving infrastructural activities.

The company is also considering strategic alliances with existing Indian factories having heavy fabrication facilities to enable it to expand its product range.

The entire 19-member board of Svedala group, including chairman Rune Andersson and president and chief executive officer Thomas Older, are slated to meet in Delhi in November end to thrash out Svedala India's strategy and assess future plans of investment and acquisitions, among other things.

"The annual board meeting here is very crucial as the board will make a first-hand assessment of the potential of the Indian market. We hope to have a speedy clearance of our investment proposals," said Svedala India managing director Sudhir Srivastava.

The board members will interact with the three chambers and business associations, National Highway Authority of India, heads of engineering companies, keycustomers, bureaucrats, and possibly, the minister of surface transport in an attempt to assess first-hand the country's current business environment. The Far East and Asia have been Svedala group's fastest growing markets in recent years and it has established companies in China, Japan and Malaysia, besides India. The Indian unit, however, has emerged as the more preferred base for increasing Svedala's presence in the world market.

Svedala now has ambitious plans to make its Indian operations the second largest after the US. It aims to achieve a Rs 100-crore turnover within the next three years.

In the immediate future, the subsidiary will set up a foundry at an investment of $5 million to produce manganese steel. It will also shore up its backup by setting up service shops within a few months in key cities like Calcutta, Goa, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai in phases. For this, a new service division is sought to be created within the subsidiary with a marked investment of close to $5million.

Later, additional investments are planned for setting up another unit, a greenfield project in mining processing sector, which will cater exclusively to the group's global sourcing needs in a big way, Srivastava indicated. Although the details are yet to be finalised, the project is likely to draw an additional investment of over $5 million.

"We have a huge demand for both the domestic market and international market and aim to get a lot of worlwide sourcing needs fulfilled from the Indian unit," added Srivastava. The company also expects a much larger demand build up in the Indian mineral processing segment once the policies take a clearer shape, Sandberg said.

An engineering centre to look after the software needs of the company's systems in India will also be set up by Svedala with a much smaller investment.

A world major in manufacturing of a vast variety of capital goods, Svedala wants to restrict itself to civil engineering and mineral processing equipment in the country for the timebeing, said Srivastava. The domestic market for manufacturing equipment is estimated to be worth Rs 100 crore.

As a full service supplier, Svedala offers a complete spectrum of engineering services, including feasibility studies, installation, commissioning and start-up.

Among its recent projects, Svedala India has bagged an order from the National Mineral Development Corporation for engineering and supply of complete iron ore washing plant for new mines in Bailadila.

In civil engineering, it has got three orders for crushers and screens from Hindustan Construction Company for Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Kurichu and Ghosikurd dam projects.

Srivastava hoped that Svedala would be able to play a big role in the Rs 28,000-crore north-south and east-west highway corridor scheme announced by the prime minister.