CRI Group, which is into fluid management solutions, has invested ₹35 crore ($5 million), setting up facilities in the U.S. and Mexico. G. Soundararajan, vice chairman, said the plant in the U.S. will take up minor assembly works of units exported from here and supply borewell products, waste water pumps, pressure boosting and industrial pumps in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America and Caribbean countries.

“We have been catering to the U.S. and Mexico markets, supplying through distributors. We wanted to provide after sales service and have facilities to grow there. The company has been preparing for more than a decade now, developing products for these markets. One of the products launched there is for mining application,” he said. The annual turnover expected from these markets in three years is $10 million.

The CRI Group currently has facilities (wholly owned subsidiaries) in Spain, Italy, Brazil, Turkey, China, South Africa, and the UAE. Nearly 16 % of the group’s ₹2,100 crore turnover is from overseas business. “The turnover is expected to cross ₹ 5,000 crore by 2022-2023. And export business growth will be higher than the domestic growth. We are bullish on international business,” he added. Though some of the spares, valves, and products for pumpsets attract import duty in the US after it recently removed GSP benefits for India, the company is able to have cost competitiveness, Mr. Soundararajan said.

On the domestic front, CRI supplied 47,354 five star-rated energy efficiency pumpsets in Andhra Pradesh in the last one year as a part of energy efficiency project by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). It has bagged orders to supply 5,000 solar pumps in Maharashtra. It has also started supplying specialised pumpsets to the Navy and is developing more such pumpsets for supply to the defence sector, he said.