Glass industry to pump in Rs 2,000 cr over 4 yrs

The float glass industry will see investments of over Rs 2,000 crore over the next four years. About 80 per cent to 85 per cent of the capital expenditure will flow towards glass manufacturing and industrial processing, with the rest going into architectural processing.

B Santhanam, managing director, Saint-Gobain Glass India, said that the growth potential in the segment will act as a pull factor for investments. The industry, leaning on the seemingly endless energy in the housing segment, is growing at 14 per cent in volume terms and much higher in value now. If the real estate blitzkrieg holds, the numbers could accelerate in the next two years.

Santhanam added that Saint-Gobain's share in the projected sectoral investment will be about 35 per cent. Industry players said, the two other primary contenders in the segment, Modiguard and Asahi India, too will commit significant investments. They predict that the three together will account for 90 per cent of the estimates.

Such investments could be incremental and may not factor in current expansion. Saint-Gobain, for instance, is putting in around Rs 650 crore to set up a second float glass line and enter the auto glass sector.

They add, the call for such glasses has moved beyond the service industry. Though IT and ITES remain the face of the segment, other applications and uses are trickling in. For example, malls are a huge potential, as reports indicate that at least 250 malls are sprouting up across the country.

Also, builders in tier II cities have picked up a fancy for glass. Centres like Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Pune, Lucknow, Kochi and Coimbatore are leading the charge now.

The growing acceptance of extensive use of glass in building will mean demand outsripping supply in the coming years.

This will ultimately force manufacturers to expand. The changing architecture and aesthetic sense has created a strong market for reflective and thick glasses, besides the demand to build interior facades.