Ion Exchange to set up US arm next fiscal

MUMBAI: Ion Exchange India Ltd is further expanding globally and will float a wholly owned subsidiary in the United States next fiscal.

The company offers water management solutions for industry, homes and communities. Formed in 1964 as a subsidiary of the Permutit Co of UK, Ion Exchange became a wholly Indian company in 1985, when Permutit divested its holding.

Sources said the US subsidiary will be set up for trading and dealing in water and effluent treatment plants and pollution control equipment. The proposal would soon be put up for approval before the board of directors.

Rajesh Sharma, managing director, Ion Exchange, told DNA Money, “There is a plan to float a wholly owned subsidiary in US next fiscal, but it’s in a nascent stage. We want to be one of the major global players with leadership position in South East Asia and expect our turnover to touch Rs 400 crore by the fiscal-end.”

The Rs 300-crore company recently established a full-fledged subsidiary in Bangladesh to provide services and have a JV with a Malaysian company.

It has set up a 100% subsidiary in Singapore to service the South East Asian market and has another JV with Belgium-based Waterleau, a leading global company in environmental solutions and services with proprietary technologies.

Ion Exchange is also getting into the municipal water segment. According to Sharma, the global water treatment industry is worth about $50 billion.

In India, the industry size is about Rs 5,000 crore, including industrial and waste water treatment, drinking water purification and bottled water segments.

Ion Exchange’s revenue streams include engineering, chemicals, consumer products and services.

It exports equipment, resins, membranes and water treatment chemicals and has plants at Ambarnath (Maharashtra), Ankleshwar and Bharuch (Gujarat), Goa, Hosur, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.