Ace Designers embarks on Rs 250 cr expansion

To commission foundry at Nelamangala in April; expand plant capacity

Bangalore-based machine tools major Ace Designers Ltd has embarked on a major expansion drive involving an investment of over Rs 250 crore. The company, which manufactures CNC machines, is planning to expand capacity at its plant and is also setting up a foundry for captive consumption.

“We had planned this expansion about six years ago and acquired 82 acres in Nelamangala taluk from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for Rs 28 crore. We are now building a modern foundry with Italian technology which will be commissioned by the end of March or early April this year,” Shrinivas G Shirgurkar, managing director, Ace Designers, said.

He said, the foundry will produce 12,000 tonnes of castings per annum. Of this, about 60 per cent of the capacity would be used for captive requirements and the balance would be for outside orders.

Shirgurkar said, the company’s proposed plan to expand capacity of CNC machines’ plant in Bangalore will be executed from June onwards. The company planned to expand capacity nearly three times to 10,000 machines per annum. The company’s products include 2-axis, 3-axis and 5-axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) machines used in automobile, general engineering and electrical among other sectors.

“We have already secured all approvals from the state government for the proposed expansion. However, we delayed the expansion due to economic slowdown last year. As the market has shown signs of improvement this year, we are going ahead with the expansion during the next fiscal,” Shirgurkar told Business Standard.

The State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) headed by chief minister has approved the company’s proposal to set up a foundry and expand its plant capacity at a meeting held in September last year. SHLCC also approved the company’s request for a two-year extension to execute the expansion programme.

He said, the company has also tied up finances for the project. Of a planned investment of Rs 250 crore, the foundry has seen an investment of Rs 110 crore, he said. Shirgurkar said, the company had witnessed slowdown in order booking during the second half of the present fiscal and as a result its turnover would decline 20 per cent for year-ending March 2013. It reported a turnover of Rs 490 crore in 2011-12.

“There are signs of improvement for the next fiscal and we are getting enquiries from the user industries. During the next fiscal, we are looking at recovering the lost business in this year and hope to report 10-15 per cent growth,” he added. Ace Designers exports about 10 per cent of its capacity to China, Italy, France, Russia and Germany.