The domestic market for gasket sheeting is said to be around 18,000 tons per year. The cost difference between asbestos and non-asbestos sheets ranges from 100 to 300 per cent and so the preference for asbestos sheets. But Uni Klinger hopes to cash in on the increasing demand from exporters for non-asbestos sheeting and build a market in this segment.

Uni Klinger is a 60:40 joint venture between the Rs 250-crore Netrawalla Group and Klinger AG of Switzerland. The venture manufactures fluid control products like piston valves, steam traps, and level guage from its Ahmednagar plant. The company has entered the fluid sealing segment by manufacturing high-grade gasketing systems for usein high temperature and aggressive media applications.

Uni Klinger inaugurated its new Rs 15-crore factory manufacturing gasket sheeting at Koregaon Bhima, 20 km off Pune on Wednesday. The new plant has a capacity of 1,500 tons per annum and there is a provision to go up to 4,000 tons per annum. Trial production started in May 1999. The company is targeting the top 20 per cent of the gasket sheeting market. Till now, customers were importing Klinger gaskets at 68 per cent duty, and they could now get these products at lower costs, Uni Klinger director FD Neterwalla said. Neterwalla was hopeful of the new venture reaching breakeven point in its first full year of operations. The company is looking at a turnover of Rs 15 crore in 2000-2001 from this sealing division and take its turnover from Rs 8 crore to Rs 30 crore.

Allaying fears about the potential dangers of asbestos, regional managing director Asia Pacific/Africa, Donald M Monro, said that on an average the maximum limit allowed internationally forasbsestos dust exposure was 0.5 fibres per ml of air over eight hours, while Klinger plants around the world run at maximum 0.1 fibre per ml. The current regulation in India is 4.0 fibres per ml. "All sealed asbestos bags will be opened mechanically, and transportation would be by suction until the fibre is encapsulated and safe to handle to ensure that it is not manually handled," Monro said.