Grasim plant to start operations from April

Facility coming up in Gujarat to produce viscose staple fibre.

Grasim Industries, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, which had announced a greenfield facility in Gujarat to produce viscose staple fibre (VSF), will start operations at the plant from April 2008. The facility will be built with an investment of Rs 750-1,000 crore.

"We have received the final approvals from the authorities concerned for our proposed facility in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) estate in Vilayat near Dahej and hope to start production from April," Shailendra K Jain, director --pulp, fibre and spinning business, Aditya Birla Group, said.

The facility will have a capacity to produce 240 tonnes of fibres a day, which will be used both for textiles and non-wovens.

VSF is a handmade and biodegradable fibre having traits similar to cotton and is largely utilised to produce fabrics for woven and knitted clothes. It is used for apparel, home textiles, dress materials, knitted inner and outer garments and non woven fabrics.

The company accounts for 23 per cent share in the world VSF market. Its production capacity is 760 tonnes per day, which it plans to ramp up to 1,050 tonnes per day by 2009.

Grasim's VSF plants are located at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh, Kharach in Gujarat and Harihar in Karnataka. The company exports 30-35 per cent of its VSF production.

The group's VSF business operates through its three companies "" Grasim Industries in India, Thai Rayon Corporation in Thailand and Indo Bharat Rayon in Indonesia, which also oversees its Chinese operations at Birla Jingwei Fibres, China.

The group has two pulp plants in Canada and one in India. It has initiated a pulp and plantation project in Laos to strengthen its backward integration.