Grasim lines up Rs 1522 cr capex plan

Grasim Industries, the flagship of the Aditya Birla group, has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 1,522 crore for the next two years.

Of this, Rs 920 crore has been set aside for the company's grey cement business and the remaining Rs 602 crore for its textiles division.

The company expects a "favourable outlook for cement exports, owing to strong construction activities in the Middle East, which is expected to be sustained over 12 to 18 months".

Through its subsidiaries, UltraTech and Shree Digvijay Cement Company, Grasim would capitalise on this opportunity, a source said.

Captive power plants, with a combined capacity of 77 mw, have been planned at three locations with a outlay of Rs 332 crore. A capex of Rs 151 crore has been earmarked for debottlenecking and strengthening production facilities. This is expected to result in an increase of blended cement production, they said.

Grasim would also be setting up a 1.3 million tonne grinding unit in Dadri, near New Delhi, at a cost of Rs 112 crore.

The company has also planned a capex of Rs 602 crore over two years for developing and commercialising its range of manmade fibres. This includes Rs 373 crore to be spent on expansion and debottlenecking, with an aim to increase capacity by 59,000 tonne.

The balance amount of Rs 229 crore would be utilised as normal capex and modernisation initiatives.

Grasim is expanding its viscose staple fibre production capacity by 59,000 tonne per annum (tpa) at its brownfield facility Kharach. Of this, 27,000 tpa would be utilised for specialty products.

The company also intends to "strengthen" its product mix in the next 12 to 24 months and focus on development of new applications such as non-woven products, he said.