Sintex Inds plans Rs 1800cr spread

To set up two greenfield projects in Madhya Pradesh & Himachal for telecom shelters.

Gujarat-based Sintex Industries Ltd plans to pump in about Rs 1,800 crore over the next three years for expansion of its various units.

"We have already raised $300 million through private placement and QIBs. We intend to raise another $300 million by way of foreign currency convertible bonds," said Amit Patel, MD of Sintex Industries.

The company which acquired Zeppelin Mobile System India in 2005 has also chalked out plans to set up two greenfield projects in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh for manufacturing telecom shelters, which are installed at the base of telecom towers.

It will invest Rs 75 crore in the two projects, Patel said. The company is looking at a revenue generation of Rs 200 crore from the telecom sector alone. It is planning to expand in eight locations where it has its manufacturing units including Kalol, Nalgadh, Kolkata and Salem.

Sintex is also planning to enhance the capacity of its over 75-year-old textile division, Bharat Vijay Mills, for an estimated investment of Rs 130-180 crore.

Patel told Business Standard that the capacity expansion process was on and the company would be raising it from the existing 21 million metres to 29 million metres. The capacity expansion will be completed by March 2009.

The company is also planning to enter high-end women shirting and upholstery and has introduced over 3,000 designs in Europe. In 2006-07, the textile division accounted for Rs 303 crore of the total Rs 1,100 crore. This share of 28 per cent is likely to come down to 20 per cent this year as the growth in textile year-on-year has been 4-5 per cent as compared with the company's monolithic and pre-fabricated business where the growth is about 40-50 per cent.

The textile division produces cotton structured dyed yarn fabric for high-end clients like Armani.

The company has no plans to enter into branded products as of now, Patel said. It is sourcing designs for textile business from the UK and Italy and its entire production would be pre-sold.

The company has set its eyes on emerging as a $3-billion company by 2012.