RHI Magnesita sets up shared service centre in India: CFO Ian Botha

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) Global refractory player RHI Magnesita has set up its Global Shared Service centre (GSS) in India to cater to the customers in domestic and West Asia, and Africa regions.

Set up in Gurugram, this is the company’s fifth shared service centre after China, Europe, North America and South America, its Global CFO Ian Botha told PTI in an interaction.

“We have positioned ourselves as the leading refractory player in India with an unrivalled product range, plant footprint and reach to service our customers in India and the larger region of West Asia, Africa.” he said.

The businesses in these regions will be served with processes and standards of the refractory industry, the CFO said.

Starting with a team of 53 skilled professionals, the centre will cater to the company’s India operations initially. In phase 2, the centre will extend its services to support the West Asia and Africa regions, Botha said.

Subsequently, in the third phase, the services will be extended to the company’s global business which spans over 125 countries, he added.

“This is in line with our strategic initiative to build India as our Global manufacturing, R&D and service hub. KPMG was the strategic partner in this project,” Parmod Sagar, MD & CEO of RHI Magnesita India, said.

Based in Vienna (Austria), RHI Magnesita is a leader in manufacturing and servicing of refractories with a 30 per cent market share, excluding China. Refractory is a specialised heat-resistant material used in making cement, steel, copper, aluminium, non-ferrous metals and glass.