Greenply plans Rs 80 cr unit

Greenply Industries, the largest manufacturer of plywood and laminates in the country, is setting up its fourth manufacturing greenfield facility with an investment of Rs 80 crore at the Pantnagar Industrial Estate in Udhamsingh Nagar district of Uttaranchal.

The new unit, being developed on an area of 25 acres, would comprise two main product lines of plywood and particle boards, Vice-President V Venkatramani told Business Standard.

The plywood and particle board production lines will have capacities of 50,000 cubic metres and 30,000 cubic metres per annum, respectively, taking the total capacity of plywood to 100,000 cubic metres per annum. The project is going to be funded through a mix of debt and equity.

"With this new manufacturing facility, we will be able to increase our lead over our competitors further. This will also help us marginalise the few regional brands which operate in the plywood industry," said Saurabh Mittal, joint managing director of the company.

Greenply accounts for 23 per cent of its organised plywood and 13 per cent of its organised laminate market.

"Proximity to strategic markets of North and West India, easy availability of necessary infrastructure, abundance of timber, and fiscal concessions provided by the Uttaranchal government have made the hill state the obvious choice for setting up our manufacturing unit here," Mittal added.

The new plant is expected to be operational by the middle of next year. This would mainly cater for the needs of the domestic market. With the increasing demand in the domestic market, Mittal said the industry was growing at a brisk rate of 20-25 per cent and the expansion plan of the company to double its capacity is a step in that direction.

Greenply has plywood manufacturing facilities in Nagaland and Kolkata. It has recently merged its subsidiary, Worthy Plywoods, with itself, which is expected to generate a turnover of Rs 300 crore in 2005-06. The company has also recently acquired a Mumbai-based laminate brand, New Mika, to enhance its presence in the Western market.

Greenply Industries' sales rose to Rs 188.40 crore with a profit of Rs 5.30 crore till March this year. Seventeen per cent of the annual turnover of Greenply comes from exports.