AGI Glasspac plans to double production capacity

Hyderabad: AGI Glasspac, part of the Somany Group, is looking to double its production capacity to 1,000 tonne per day from the present 525 tonne once its new plant under construction at Bhongir goes operational in January next year.

Two more furnaces would be added over the next four years to take the capacity of the new plant to 1,500 tonne per day.

The company is investing Rs 230 crore in the first phase and the entire project is expected to cost Rs 1,000 crore. 'We will raise part of the required funds through debt,' said RK Somany, group chairman and managing director.

At present, the company has one glass manufacturing unit at Kukatpally and the furnace has performed for about nine years. It would be dismantled after working for two or three more years, he said.

Somany said negotiations were on with Reliance for using KG-basin gas. The recent hike in raw material costs like soda ash had forced the company to pass on about 70 per cent production costs to the clients, he said.

As part of its strategic growth plans, the company is also looking at a foreign tie up, he said while ruling out any collaborations for technology sharing.

He said Hindustan Sanitaryware and Industries Limited (HSIL), the flagship company of the Somany Group, has postponed its expansion plans for sometime now due to the rising real estate costs.

HSIL had earlier planned to set up a new kiln apart from the existing one in Haryana. Instead, the company, through its subsidiary called Hindware Home Retail Private Limited, is now looking at setting up retail outlets under the ‘Evok' brand. One outlet has already been launched at Faridabad and the company had plans to set up outlets in Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai and other cities shortly.

Meanwhile, to address the need for plumbing education in India, the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA), the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials and the Indian Institute of Plumbing, the education and training wing of IPA, have evolved a ‘plumbing education to employment programme'.

This will prepare multiple levels of professional groups in India to implement the provisions of the recently evolved Uniform Plumbing Code- India to installations and maintenance of plumbing systems, said Somany, who is also the chairman of IPA's Hyderabad chapter.