Finolex lines up Rs 18 cr for CFL plant

Finolex Cables Ltd, India's largest cable manufacturer, has approved a Rs 18 crore project to manufacture compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as part of its expansion strategy.

"We have currently approved of a Rs 18 crore project to manufacture CFLs. We will be manufacturing about 80 lakh pieces per annum at the existing facilities at Urse. The project will begin in the next 6-9 months." said P B Parasnis, director (Finance).

This company has made foray into the electrical switches and circuits market a few months earlier.

Speaking on the company's strategy to reposition itself from an electrical wires company to a complete electrification solutions company Parasnis said, "With this expansion we are now in a position to fulfil all the electrification needs of a place. We are broad basing our offerings, but will be using the same distribution network and brand value to reach our customers."

"In the first year of production we will be manufacturing 40 lakh pieces and expect the turnover from CFLs to be Rs 25-30 crore. Where as within the next 24 months we planning to utilise our full capacity of 80 lakh pieces and revenues of Rs 60 crore," he added.

CFL is a 350 crore market growing at 25-30 per cent with players from the organised and unorganised sectors. It can save upto 80 per cent energy in comparison to incandescent lamp and has a life expectancy of about 6,000 to 8,000 hours.

"Finolex will manufacture CFLs in the range from 5 watts (w) to 26w and three colour temperatures of 2700K, 4000K and 6500K. The above range will be produced in retrofit and non-retrofit versions," said Parasnis.