VIKANT SAHAY
vikant@herald-goa.com
VERNA: Prior to heading for his ancestral home in Goa, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa did a quick business trip to Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics, a joint venture company formed between Universal Cables Limited, Satna, India and Furukawa Electric Co Ltd, Japan, having its registered office and manufacturing facilities situated at Verna.
Costa visited the manufacturing plant to see the facilities and was escorted by the Chief Executive Office of the Plant Kapil Mehta.
Soon after coming out of the plant and proceeding for a tree plantation ceremony, Costa spoke exclusively to Herald on how Portugal and India can enhance business ties with each other.
“I think Goa is a great place to sync our economic relations and this is a very good example on how Portuguese and the Indian companies could work together, not only in India, not only in Portugal but all over the world,” Costa told Herald.
The demand for optical fibre in the country is likely to witness considerable growth with the emergence of new technologies and launch of various government initiatives. Technology-wise, backhaul mediums that offer high speeds and bandwidth are required to accommodate the increasing data usage on the 3G platform and for the roll-out of 4G services.
Birla Furukawa manufactures high performance optical fibres for current and next generation of telecommunication and data communication.
Universal Cables Limited belongs to the M P Birla Group and is a market leader in India in the business of manufacturing of telecommunication cables. Furukawa Electric Co Ltd, Japan is a global corporation engaged in diverse business, inter alia, in the manufacturing of optical fibre preform, optical fibre and optical fibre cable with proprietary technology, know how, manufacturing processes, experience, knowledge and skill relating, amongst others, in the telecommunication industry.
