Star Panel Boards to invest Rs 9,000-mn for expansion

Mumbai: Star Panel Boards Ltd will set up three units with a total capacity of one million cubic metres to manufacture medium density fibre and particle boards by 2014 with an investment of Rs 900 crore.

Star Panels is a joint venture between Associate Group and Kings Wood, with the former holding 67 per cent.

The Associate Group is an amalgam of two business houses – Farouk Sodagar Darvesh & Company and Jawahar Saw Mills, which span almost a century in timber business. Kings Wood is one of the largest suppliers of pulpwood in the country which has been pulpwood supply for over 18 years.

Mandatory clearances have been obtained from the Supreme Court (for environment clearance) for setting up the units in Karnataka (Kolar), Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, besides necessary clearances have been secured from the States, though locations are to be finalised in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

The first unit will come up at Kolar, Karnataka, on 40 acres and become operational by the second quarter of 2010, said Mr. Yahya F. Darvesh, Director, Associate Lumbers Pvt Ltd.