Marshals' sets up 4 SBUs

It is one of the old guards in Chennai swayed by the sweeping corporatisation wave. Chennai-based widely-held (non-traded) Marshals' Group, a strong player in power and infrastructure and a new entrant to IT, has unveiled a new corporate identity with big plans chalked out for each entity.

After consolidating its business, the group has formed four strategic business units: Marshals' Power and Telecom India (MPTEL) has its focus on power transmission and distribution, power conservation and management services, EPC contracts in power and telecom sector.

Marshals' Supersoft Technologies (MSS) deals with software projects and services, education, training, multimedia, networking solutions and IT enabled services.

Marshals' Logistics and Insurance (ML&I) has sought to emerge a global freight management company providing transportation, distribution, warehousing and value added services. It will also provide package tours to customers.

The latest entity, Marshals' Trade and Retail (MT&R) has its focus on trading in a diverse portfolio of goods, commodities and services and retailing of national and international brands. Speaking to media persons in Chennai on Thursday, Ms Subhadra Kunduri, Head, Corporate Planning, Marshals' Corporate Group said "From the FY 2001-02, Marshals' aims to be a true multi-division corporation with modular structure with power devolved to the unit presidents".

"We felt the need for consolidation due to change in industrial climate, privatisation of infrastructure and the demand for integrated approach in project management. Marshals' is transforming itself into a people driven, contemporary and market responsive technology corporation".

She said, "Our multi-business, multi-location strategy is driven by three main goals -- growth, risk reduction and profitability. Each SBU, headed by a president, will be operationally independent. This is aimed at making them accountable and profitable and achieving customer satisfaction."

The group has lifted its turnover from Rs.789.74 crore in the year ended March 31, 1999 to Rs.885.57 crore in 1999-2000 and profit after tax from Rs.49.72 crore to Rs. 54.86 crore. Ms Kunduri expected the turnover to touch Rs.2,500 crore by 2004.

MPTEL has its facility in Pondicherry for manufacturing transmission lines upto 800kv. As backward integration to EPC contracting, it is setting up facility for Automatic Load Monitoring Systems (Alcom). It is executing a major Rs.60 crore project in Karnataka for installing capacitor banks, which saves T & D loss.

The company is entering telecom with plans to manufacture and market a broad range of fibre optic cables. It has tie up with Sasktel, Canada for building fibre optic backbone services.

The infrastructure division has plans to foray into refinery sector (in tie up with Ventech, USA), roads, ridges, and wastewater treatment. It has tie up with Weepoh of Singapore for taking up road projects. In power, Marshals' is establishing an 800-mw-hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh in collaboration with CGGC, China.

Marshal's Power bags $18.5 m Cambodian contract

Marshals' Power and Communications has won a $18.5 million contract for networking from the Government of Cambodia. The project which is to be implemented over three years, involves developing a networking solution for the Ministry of Interior. The company is also implementing another project in Karnataka, for the design, supply, testing, erection and commissioning of capacitor banks.