German major, Volkswagen, has launched its all new Indian website (www.volkswagen.co.in) as part of strengthening its Indian operations. The Volkswagen Group recently set up a new sales company called Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited in Mumbai to focus on the Indian market.

Bajaj Auto has unveiled a new 'Digital Twin Spark - Swirl induction' (DTS-Si) engine. The new 125cc engine with DTS-Si technology is expected to give a mileage of 109kpl under ideal test conditions, surpassing the mileage of all current 100cc motorcycles. 

According to sources at Bajaj this presents a huge potential and opportunity to upgrade the 100cc customer with a engine that offers the best of both worlds – 100cc mileage and 125cc performance. The DTS-Si engine was designed and developed completely by Bajaj Auto R&D and comes after Bajaj improved on existing engine technology in 2003 when it launched the DTS-i (Digital Twin Spark-ignition) engine with two spark plugs located at opposite ends of the combustion chamber (as compared to a single spark plug in conventional 4-stroke engines) to achieve faster and more efficient combustion. The DTS-i technology offered better performance, improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Bajaj Auto worked on the mother DTS-i technology to design the DTS-Si engine, which delivers enhanced efficiency through a technique called Swirl induction. Swirl induction according to Bajaj sources creates turbulence in order to achieve extremely efficient combustion. 

Abraham Joseph, Head of R&D, Bajaj Auto, said, "We realized that at light loads on DTS-i, an opportunity existed to improve the combustion even further. When burning lean Air-Fuel mixtures through the two spark plugs, the combustion conditions could be further improved by generating high turbulence in the combustion chamber. Once the solution was arrived at, the design and geometry modifications followed."

T V Ramanathan, MD & CEO of Exide and Andrew Dixey, Group CEO of Atraverda after signing the agreement

Lead-acid storage battery manufacturer, Exide Industries has entered into an agreement to jointly develop bi-polar technology with Atraverda of UK, a research organization that has patented Ebonex technology. This arrangement is expected to help build smaller, lighter and more environment friendly lead acid batteries. The joint research should enable Exide to develop bi-polar lead acid batteries for a range of power storage applications. 

T V Ramanathan, managing director and CEO of Exide said, "The agreement with Atraverda is a small but significant step towards reinforcing Exide's technology leadership. We have a track record of continuous upgradation of technology in respect of Lead acid storage batteries over the last few decades." 

Dr S K Mittal, director (Research & Development), Exide added, "The development of bi-polar technology will take place at the new research block recently commissioned at Kolkata."Exide was the first Indian battery manufacturer to be accepted by Maruti Suzuki when they started operations in India. Exide were the first to introduce polypropylene batteries in the market and the first to come out with zero maintenance sealed batteries in India.

From left: Ranjit Jagtap, V M Jagtap and Vikram Jagtap

Pune-based Ranvik Engineers has bagged an order to supply frames to Tata Motors for its LCVs like the 407, 709, 909, etc.Ranvik Engineers has set up a new facility at Bhosari to cater to this need. The facility, put up with an investment of Rs 12 crores, was recently inaugurated by Raja Rao, vice president, Tata Motors, and is expected to generate business worth Rs 50 crores per annum. 

The facility has capacity to manufacture 30 chassis frames per day, and is likely to reach full capacity by next year. The company has a contract with Tata Motors for 3 years to solely supply them the components made here. “We bagged the order through online bidding process. This project was until now done in-house by Tata”, said V M Jagtap, the founder of Ranvik Engineers at the inauguration of the facility. 

The facility includes a U-shaped line where the components are subjected to zinc phosphating, painting, assembly that includes cold riveting, final painting and baking. The major aspect of the facility according to Jagtap is the paint shop. The company plans to upgrade to Cathodic Electro Dipping (CED) paint technology and is in the process of buying laser cutting machines and the setting up of a tool room.

"With rising world population and resources staying constant, the basic necessity of vital nutrition, safe drinking water, conservation of energy, development of renewable energy sources are the challenges that human society faces in order to create a peaceful and flourishing eco system. We are innovating and continuously improving technology to build equipment and create processes that are environment friendly. To take these developments worldwide, GEA combines its strengths and synergies as a globally thinking locally operating group." This was the message from Ulrich Fehlauer, managing director, GEA Ecoflex GmbH, during his visit to India for the launch of a new production facility to manufacture GEA plate heat exchangers (PHE) near Pune. 

GEA Ecoflex GmbH, headquartered in Sarstedt, Germany, is a part of the GEA AG Group, a front runner engineering and technology conglomerate that has pioneering expertise in plate heat exchangers based on a tradition dating back to over 150 years. 

Following a modernisation plan, in 2003, a new facility for gasketed plate heat exchangers was opened at Sarstedt with state-of-the-art pressing lines that set the highest standards in their field in the world for productivity and automation. In 2005, a further large press was integrated into production operations at Ystad, Sweden. 

GEA PHE Systems, responsible for the plate heat exchanger business within the GEA Process Equipment Division, has begun production at its new facility at York in Pennsylvania, USA. The end of 2007 will see the start-up of the second construction stage. With a total investment volume of US $60 million, York will be the leading centre of competence for plate heat exchangers in the American continent. 

According to Fehlauer, this location concept of GEA PHE Systems will continue in future to be a synonym for innovation and worldwide customer proximity. As a part of this plan, at the beginning of this year GEA Ecoflex India started a trial production for small and medium-sized plate heat exchangers in Pune to cover the needs of the Asian as well as to supplement the growing global market. GEA has been present in India since the year 2000 and has grown to become a leading supplier of plate heat exchangers in the country with components imported from Germany and assembled at the facility at Navi Mumbai. 

"We have successfully completed our trial production runs here and now having satisfied the German standards of quality will begin the supply of this range of the plates worldwide by September 2007. To augment the production capacity here and make GEA India our third largest facility in the world we have now embarked upon to set up a new factory, which will be ready by 2008. This factory will manufacture a wide range of industrial plate heat exchangers meeting the highest standards required for food processing as also large heat recovery units for power, fertilizers and metal-making industry. GEA India will be a source for the refrigeration industry as well to provide heat exchange components suitable for non-CFCs - our contribution in protecting the ozone layer and environment on our planet," Fehlauer added.