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IFC to invest $30 mn in Lucid Colloids

Infusion will be through equity and debt

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T E Narasimhan Chennai
Last Updated : Apr 10 2014 | 10:13 AM IST
International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to invest $30 million in Lucid Colloids Limited (LCL), one of the top four producers of guar gum. The proposed investment will be through equity and debt.

The funds will be used to drive Lucid Colloids' growth plans and meet its working capital requirements.

LCL plans to increase its production capacity and undertake backward integration. The company also plans to set up research facilities.

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It plans to set up a greenfield finished guar gum production facility at Jhagadia (in Bharuch, Gujarat). The facility may also be used for manufacturing of other gums/hydrocolloids through similar manufacturing processes.

Lucid also plans to set up two guar splits facilities in Bikaner and Meglasiya in Rajasthan besides setting up its R&D centre at Mokheri, in Rajasthan.

The company has already purchased land for these projects and they are at different stages of development.

IFC said these projects will help increase sourcing of guar from farmers in the arid / semi-arid regions of Rajasthan and it will improve their access to global markets besides enabling better price realisations.

Lucid is one of the top four producers of guar gum in India and has a sales presence in the US and UK. In 2004, a JV affiliate, Taiyo Lucid Ltd, was established with Taiyo Kagaku Co. of Japan and CBC of Japan (Taiyo-Lucid), to manufacture guar water soluble dietary fiber (a nutritional supplement) at a facility in Aurangabad.

Currently, Lucid has two operational facilities – at Jodhpur and Aurangabad (under Taiyo-Lucid). The Jodhpur facility manufactures finished guar gum for food and non-food applications (including Oil & Gas industry), including derivative guar gum products.

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First Published: Apr 10 2014 | 10:10 AM IST

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