Chennai, Dec 7 (IANS): Multi-product company Tube Investments of India Ltd is confident of sizeable orders from oil exploration, packaging and can manufacturing sectors for its industrial chains next fiscal to touch its target revenue of Rs.500 crore, said a senior official.

"We are targeting to sell import substitute industrial chains - chains for oil exploration, packaging and can manufacturing and others - next fiscal. The demand is buoyant for chains from material handling and auto sectors," P. Ramachandran, president of TI Diamond Chain (TIDC) - the chains division of Tube Investments - told IANS.

Part of the $3.8 billion industrial conglomerate Murugappa Group, TIDC makes chains for automotive, industrial sectors and also other products for the auto sector.

"The necessary quality certifications for our oil sector chains have been obtained and sample supplies have been made to ONGC," Ramachandran said.

Rolling out around four million feet of chains per month, TIDC supplies 60 percent of its production to the auto and the balance to the industrial sector.

"Eighty percent of our automotive chains go to vehicle manufacturers and the balance to the replacement market. In the industrial chains segment, apart from supplying 80 percent of its produce in India, the company ships out 20 percent to the European and American markets," Ramachandran said.

"We earn around Rs.80 crore from exports and this is set to increase next year. We are supplying industrial chains to a US customer where the annual order potential is around $2 million," he added.

TIDC expanded the capacity of its Hyderabad facility that rolls out automotive chains by 20 percent at an outlay of Rs.30 crore.

"The demand for automotive chains will go up in the next couple of years. Further, many of the overseas vehicle manufacturers will opt for Indian made chains as a part of their localisation plans," Ramachandran added.

He said the division would close the current year with revenue of Rs.400 crore.