Chennai-based premium plywood maker Uniply Industries Ltd is considering setting up a greenfield manufacturing plant in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 35 crore.
"We plan to have a manufacturing plant in Andhra as and when the Centre accords the special tax treatment to the state. The whole idea is to locate the new unit close to the existing Chennai plant, somewhere near SriCity, which would ideally reduce transportation costs for us," said Keshav Kantamneni, chief executive officer of Uniply.
The proposed facility would have the capacity to produce 7,500 notional area (NA) of premium plywood, and would generate 1,000 jobs. The plant would tap into market demand for plywood products in the coastal belt and also exports.
Uniply is also scouting for acquiring two functional units, in north and west of India, and is ready to spend Rs 20-25 crore on them in the next 6-9 months. The company has a manufacturing unit in Chennai and two smaller plants in other parts of the country.
BSE-listed Uniply was recently acquired by Kantamneni in February this year valuing the company at Rs 138 crore. The new promoter had come up with an open offer for 26 per cent at Rs 13.5 for every share.
Under the new head, Uniply, grappling with a debt of Rs 115 crore in the last fiscal as against a sales turnover of Rs 172 crore, is considering reducing it through measures including cost management, currency hedging, and a significant growth in topline. It plans to double its monthly sales by tying up with dealers predominantly in the south and the northern parts of the country.
Kantamneni said in the next five years, the company was targeting Rs 1,000 crore sales in the Rs 6,000-crore organised plywood market, which is growing annually at around six per cent.
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