Chennai, 28 October 2014: Tube Investments of India (TII), part of the INR 24300 crore Murugappa Group, has announced the formal inauguration of its Large Diameter Tubes manufacturing plant at Tiruttani on Thursday 30 October 2014. This has been built with a capital expenditure of Rs 250 crore and with an installed capacity of 11,000 tonnes per month. This plant will address the requirements of the infrastructure sector, like hydraulic cylinders, propeller shafts and other large-diameter-tube applications that are currently being served through imports.

Speaking on the occasion, TII Managing Director Mr L Ramkumar said "With the operation of this state-of-the-art plant we would be able to serve the needs of the off road vehicle and construction industries."

The Large Diameter Tube plant has been set up with the approval under the Single Window Clearance system of the Government of Tamil Nadu. It has been designed as a world-class layout with a streamlined process flow. Built over 63 acres of land outside Tiruttani town, the highly-automated plant has machines from Germany, Italy and Japan. The product range encompasses a wide variety of CDW (Cold Drawn Welded) and ERW (Electric Resistance Welding) tubes with a diameter range of 60 mm to 180 mm and thickness from 4 mm to 12.7 mm. The products will address applications such as hydraulic cylinders used for earthmoving and construction machinery, propeller shafts for high payload vehicles and rear axle tubes for utility vehicles, structural applications (for Airports, Stadia, Industrial sheds and other large buildings/public utilities), automotive chassis applications, etc.

Founded in 1900, the INR 243 billion Murugappa Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates. The group has 28 businesses including ten listed companies traded in NSE and BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the group include Carborundum Universal Ltd, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd, Coromandel International Ltd, Coromandel Engineering Company Ltd, E.I.D. Parry (India) Ltd, Parry Agro Industries Ltd, Sabero Organics Ltd, Shanthi Gears Ltd, Tube Investments of India Ltd., and Wendt (India) Ltd.