Blue Star-W J Towell joint venture starts operation

Muscat: India’s Blue Star and Oman’s W J Towell group have officially announced the formation of a joint venture — Blue Star Oman Electro-Mechanical Company. The joint venture offers mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) contracting services in Oman.
“Blue Star has 51 per cent stake in the joint venture and 49 per cent holding is with W J Towell. The chairman of the company is from W J Towell,” Vir S. Advani, executive director of Blue Star, told ‘Times of Oman’.
He said that the company has started operation (as a joint venture) in September 2015. “We have four MEP projects running right now. These are residential projects.”
W J Towell, a renowned business group that is in operation for 150 years, has several businesses such as real estate, construction, consumer goods, automotive, engineering and services. Blue Star is one of India's leading engineering conglomerates with core businesses of air-conditioning, commercial refrigeration, MEP contracting and after-sales service.
Advani said that his company’s equipment business (air-conditioners and refrigeration products) is not part of the joint venture’s business portfolio. “The investment in the joint venture is very small, it is more of an operating cost-intensive business than capital intensive one. That is the nature of the business,” added Advani.
“We are building up a small base. We feel that the strength of our local partner and our technical capability will help us grow in our business. We hope to take some market share,” noted Advani.
Apart from Oman, Blue Star runs international projects business through its joint ventures in Qatar and Malaysia. “In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, we have joint ventures in Qatar and Oman.” But the air-conditioning products are sold in all GCC states, except Saudi Arabia. The company has distributes its products in 15 countries.
The international business is poised to grow multifold through new joint ventures for projects. “Our total annual revenue is estimated at $500 million and 10 per cent of this revenue comes from our international operations,” added Advani.
Ivor Braganza, chief executive officer of Towell Property, also addressed the launch event. Several board members from W J Towell and its group companies and top-level officials from Blue Star also attended the event.