Netherlands-based onicel Worldwide, manufacturers of industrialised paper Honeycomb products, is setting up a plant in Chennai at an investment of Rs 60 crore through Honicel India Pvt Ltd.
In the initial phase of its operations, the company is expected produce 9,000 tonnes of paper per annum of Honeycomb core which is used in construction, furniture, packaging and automotive industries per annum. This would create an employment opportunity to over 200 people, said a company announcement.
Almost 60 per cent of the production would cater to the packaging industry, pallets, container packing, pharmaceutical, food and automobile industries. The rest would go into construction industry as internal doors and into furniture making.
Made of recycled paper, Honeycomb products are recyclable, renewable and bio-degradable, and the Honicel pallets are environment-friendly replacement to plywoods, medium density fibre boards, particle boards and solid woods. It also costs one-third of the conventional construction and packaging materials, said the company officials.
The Honeycomb internal doors would help the customer source imported quality doors at Indian price, said Giridhara Raj, director, Honicel India Pvt Ltd. The company is expecting a turnover of Rs 300 crore in the financial year 2012-13.
The company is planning an R&D centre and a local testing centre in India along with a manufacturing unit to produce machines for making Honeycomb products. It would set up Honipack plants across several regions in India to supply Honeycomb products for the packaging industry at lower cost.