VVF plans manufacturing plant in Baddi

VVF ltd, the country's leading oleochemichals producer, is planning to set up a manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. The company also plans to expand capacity of two existing plants.

"We will initially invest Rs 50 crore in the Baddi plant. The proposed plant will be set up over an area of 18 acre. The plant would contribute 50 per cent to our current soap manufacturing capacity of 50 thousand tonne per annum. The plant will be operational by year-end," said Piyush Jindal, vice- president personal care, VVF.

The company has five manufacturing plants in the country at Sion,Taloja, Navsari, Daman and Kutch and two offshore plants in Dubai and Canada.

The company has recently opened an office in the United States and plans to set up a manufacturing plant in North America. VVF will upgrade its Taloja plant with an investment of Rs 60 crore and Kutch plant with Rs 30 crore.

The funds for these ventures will come from the firm's internal accruals but it plans to tap the capital market through an initial public offering in a couple of years. A personal care products line for men is also in the pipeline and is scouting for acquisition of small brands out of India.

"The company has crossed a turnover of Rs 500 crore last year and we expect it to touch Rs 1,000 crore by 2007. Our current exports contribute 43 per cent to the turnover and it may go upto 50 per cent by next fiscal," said Jindal.