Bilt plans fresh two lakh tonne capacity

Ballarpur Industries Ltd (Bilt), the Lalit Mohan Thapar group flagship, is planning to put up a fresh capacity of 200,000 ton a year for uncoated printing paper at the Sinar Mas plant which it had acquired in 2001.

According to Gautam Thapar, vice-chairman & managing director, the company is scouting for the right technology for the proposed capacity and is likely to place an order some time in 2005.

"Once we have placed the order, it will take another 18-24 months to install the machine," Thapar said.

Once the new machine goes on steam in 2007, Bilt will become one of the leading producers of printing paper in the world, Thapar added.

The capacity, along with the ongoing expansion, will take Bilt's production base from 450,000 tpa to 750,000 tpa by 2007.

When asked what is the company's budget for the new facility, Thapar said Bilt had not zeroed in on any figure so far.

"Raising finances is not a problem. We are open to taking debt as it is cheaper. We have brought down our debt-equity ratio to 0.9:1 now. Bilt has a gross profit of Rs 400 crore.

After interest and dividend payment, there is still Rs 200 crore left," he added.

To understand the needs of customers for printing paper better, Bilt is setting up a printing laboratory.

Thapar said the laboratory will be set up to work on developing paper for various printing technology, including for digital presses and high speed printers.