Cooper Corporation, a Pune-based diesel engine manufacturer has launched 140-180 kVA diesel generator. The new generator is powered by new water-cooled, 6-cylinder CRDi diesel engine, which develops 280 HP (230 HP in its CNG variant). In the coming years, the company is also looking at expanding its range up to 1 MW.

Cooper Corporation's General Manager-Marketing Gordon Dsouza said, "The current cost of running a genset has been doubled due to the removal of diesel subsidy, so the need of the hour is to provide low cost of running gensets. Therefore we have launched this new genset, which is unique among other diesel powered generators in India, which provide 25 per cent lower fuel consumption and substantial savings in maintenance cost."

The newly launched Euro IV compliant, 6-cylinder engine develops 280 HP and has a bore and stroke dimension of 107 x 126 mm, and develops maximum torque of 960 Nm at 1400-1800 rpm. The engine also has an advanced ECU module, which controls all critical parameters of the engine.

In order to design and manufacture engines to meet current and emerging emission norms, Cooper Corporation has a technical tie-up with Ricardo of the UK. With the common-rail sourced from Delphi-TVS, the company manufactures the new CRDi engines at its manufacturing facility in Satara, Maharashtra where it has nine manufacturing units with a total production capacity of 48,000 engines and 24,000 diesel generators. Commenting on future products, Mr Dsouza said, "We intend to be in the large engine space by offering 1 MW in terms of the engines. Therefore in the next five years down the line we will be having a wide range of engine options from 10 kVA to 1 MW. In order to this, we are discussing with global engine manufacturers for technical collaborations for the large engine and plan to invest Rs 200 crore in the next five years."

Cooper Corp is also exploring opportunities to supply engines to off-highway, construction and commercial vehicles. The company, which recently launched a new range of 6- cylinder CRDi engine for use in gensets can be used as an automotive engine by coupling with variable transmission.

Cooper manufactures engines ranging from 14 to 200 HP, which are widely used in gensets, agriculture, construction equipment, marine and automobiles. "We see there is an opportunity for our 6-cylinder engine in off-highway as well as for commercial vehicles. We are studying the possibilities in commercial vehicle space and some of the vehicle manufactures are conducting various tests on the engine at their facilities. But immediately, we see future in the construction equipments and off-highway vehicles," Mr Dsouza stressed.

Apart from engine and genset manufacturing, the company's components manufacturing plays a major role in the Cooper's turn over. The component sector accounts for 65 per cent of the company's Rs 600 crore turnover last year. Cooper Corp manufactures cylinder heads, cylinder liners, and crankshafts for use in two-wheelers, four-wheelers and CVs. In the domestic market, it supplies components to Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Harley-Davidson, Yamaha and Cummins. In the export market, it supplies to Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Renault, Kawasaki and Chrysler in Europe, Japan and North America.

The company is also very much optimistic and plans to grow by 300 per cent by selling 23000 units this year. "Three months ago, we doubled our engine plant in Satara by investing Rs 130 crore and this made us to produce 48,000 engines and 24,000 genset annually," Dsouza concluded.