Premier Ltd

Incorporated in 1944, Premier Limited, formerly known as Premier Automobiles Limited manufactures passenger cars, trucks, buses, etc. The Company's name was changed from Premier Automobiles Limited to Premier Limited effective from 28 March, 2005. It operates in only one business segment i.e., Engineering. The Engineering segment consists of Manufacture of CNC Machines and large mechanical components for the wind energy and infrastructure sectors and professional and engineering services. The Company operate a plant at Khed Tal., Pune. PAL's Premier Padmini enjoyed a commanding position, along with Hindustan Motors, till 1984, before the launch of the Maruti 800. In Jan.'86, PAL started producing the 118 NE. PAL plans to rejuvenate itself through modernisation, new project launches and a joint venture with Automobiles Peugeot, France. It has also tied up with Fiat, Italy. As the present Padmini model is a product of Fiat, the latter will help upgrade the model. But the thrust will be on another model to be launched, named Uno, with technology from Fiat, Italy. Fiat, which considers India a key market, is also interested in strengthening its long-term relationship with PAL. The 999 cc Uno has roll out by the beginning of 1996. The company has entered into an arrangement with Ind Auto Ltd (IAL) for assembly of Premier cars at Kurla. Its machine tool division has obtained the ISO 9001 certification. Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI) awarded MTD ISO 9001 for next three years from 24th December, 1999. During 2002 the company signed a long term contract with Telco for painting the bodies. The company's real estate business witnessed a slight growth since, it has entered into a MOU with a leading developer for development of its residential land at Dombivali at a consideration of Rs.15 crores. In 2006-07, the 'Mission Hundred', of producing 100 Gear machines was completed. The capacity of engine block machining line for Tata Motors Ltd. (TML) was enhanced to supply 350 Nos. per day as against the earlier 100 Nos. per day. The Company installed state-of-art Body-in-White facilities and has commenced building bodies of 'Roadstar' from imported CKD's. A new assembly line having a capacity of 12000 vehicles per year was made operational during the year. A new engine assembly line was setup to produce Bharat Stage III engines. The Company commenced civil construction for a new paint shop. It developed a special Piano-Miller during the year to machine bogie components for railways and a high productivity special purpose machine for machining connecting rods for automobiles. It developed VM-40 machine which is a small size vertical machining centre required in many small and medium scale engineering industries. During 2007-08 the Company invested Rs.31 Crores to expand and modernize Machine Tool manufacturing and assembly capacities. A new, high bay, shed of 1,00,000 sq. ft. area was erected and modern plant and equipment aggregating to Rs.40 Crores was installed during the year. During 2008-09, the Company developed new products such as, 4 Axis CNC Gear Shaving Machine, 5 Axis CNC Gear Mobbing Machine with Electronic Gear Box of 250 mm diameter; CNC Vertical Turning Lathe with a 2 m diameter turning capacity. It established vehicle assembly capacity including the body shop, paint shop (part), vehicle assembly line, engine and gear box assembly, which presently had 15000 vehicle capacity per annum. In 2009-10, the 1489cc turbo diesel engine was adopted into the RiO and related developments. The Company commenced supplies to ReGen Powertech for their 1.5 MW wind turbine in 2010-11. A Gear Box Housing KMP 450 for wind mills; Six types of new components requiring precision fabrication, machining & painting for windmills were developed in 2011. A new RiO assembly line was opened, with an installed capacity to produce 30,000 units per annum. Also, a RiO Euro-IV compliant petrol version was developed. In 2011-12, products developed comprised of CNC Vertical Machining Centre suitable for heavy duty applications; CNC Heavy Duty Horizontal Machining Centre with quill and W axis facility; CNC Gear Hobbing Machines of 630 mm and 900 mm dia. developed with Electronic Gear Box to increase productivity and CNC Heavy Duty Gear Shaper suitable for internal gear shaping. The Company introduced BS IV petrol version in the market during the year. In 2015-16, the Company developed CNC Gear Shaping Machine : Model PSC - 250 : Machine developed with new CNC control. Machine developed with more NC axes. CNC Gear Hobbing Machine : Model PHC - 150 : Compact machine developed with new CNC control. It completed RS6 DMRC metro project for 274 bogie frames order enrooted through M/s. BEML Bangalore. New parts like Nacelle frame for 2.1MW, Main frame& Hub for 1.5MW, Top flange for 2.6MW developed which involves critical fabrication, precision machining & painting, developed for wind turbines. Front & Rear Bearing Housing of M/s. Gamesa casting parts for 2MW. Wind turbine top segment tower (11meter) &Top Flange of tower (export) for World Wind India Ltd.& M/s. Lagerwey wind Netherlands, Wind turbine steel and forging parts, Stator Base Frame, Rotor frame, Stator front plate, Stator front flange, Main bearing press ring, Main seal carrier, Yaw disc etc. for 2.6 MW capacity Export to Lagerwey wind Netherlands. Crusher frames of different models required in mining sector for Sandvik mining equipment division. During the year 2016-17, the Company developed Gear Cutting Machines development with Direct Drive Motors. Front & Rear Bearing Housing of M/s. Gamesa casting parts of 2MW.for G9x & G114. Designed & developed indigenously fabrication & machining fixtures for End Under Frames manufacturing of M/s. Alstom transport for their Kochi, Lucknow & Sydney Metro project. End Under Frames developed for Lucknow & Kochi metro project & for Sydney Metro project of M/s. Alstom. It developed the production line for the supply of bogie frames for RS 10 project of M/s. Hyundai Rotem of South Korea. Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) is in progress against the Company effective 29th January, 2021 as per order of the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (Code) as reported in the financial reports of 2023-24. Accordingly, the powers of the Board of directors have been suspended and are being exercised by Ms. Kanak Jani, who was appointed as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) by the NCLT in terms of the above referred order and subsequently confirmed to continue as the Resolution Professional (RP) by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in its meeting held on 4th March, 2021.