Roger Lafrance, president of Hardrock Mining Products, signed a distributorship agreement in Delhi this week, during the Canada Trade Mission to India led by International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
The mission couldn?t have happened at a better time for Hardrock. Just a couple of months ago, the company was approached by a distributor interested in representing Hardrock?s products in India, followed by two more with the same idea.
When Lafrance heard about the upcoming mission, he lined up an invitation and registered as a participant.
?The timing is perfect,? said Lafrance. ?India is a huge coal producer with some 3,100 operating coal mines, compared to approximately 47 underground operating mines in Canada. This trade mission will provide us with the ideal framework for negotiations.?
With the help of the Canadian High Commission in Delhi, Lafrance lined up a number of meetings.
Hardrock currently exports 85 per cent of its specialty drill equipment for underground soft rock mines such as coal, salt, potash and gypsum to the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and the United States.
