Hind Sanitaryware to expand Andhra plant capacity

Opens first Hindware Arcade at Hyderabad

Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Limited, (HSIL), which has two manufacturing facilities "� at Bibinagar (Andhra Pradesh) and Bahadurgarh (Haryana) "� is planning to expand the capacity at the Andhra Pradesh plant at an investment of Rs 27 crore.

With this expansion, the facility will become the largest plant in ceramics in the country with a capacity of 18,000 tonnes from the existing 12,000 tonnes. The Haryana plant has a capacity of 14,000 tonnes.

The company employs around 550 people at the Bibinagar plant and expects to increase this number to 700 with this expansion that includes addition of a furnace besides two buildings for casting and filing.

This apart, the company that inaugurated its first Hindware Arcade in the country at Hyderabad on Thursday, is planning to have four arcades by March 2006. The new ones will be in cities like Mumbai and Chennai.

Each arcade costs between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 75 lakh for the interior decoration, electricals and the products.

Addressing the media, Sandip Somany, joint managing director, HSIL, said, "South has been extremely good for us and it is the quickest growing market in ceramics."

The market size of ceramics is Rs 600 crore and is growing at a rate of 12 per cent. HSIL enjoys a market share of 35.5 per cent in this sector.

The company that ended March 2005 with a turnover of Rs 333 crore is expecting to double its revenues within the next three years.

"For this fiscal we are targeting a growth rate of between 15 per cent and 18 per cent," Somany added.