CSIL to up exports to US by 20%

Circuit Systems (India) Ltd (CSIL), a Gandhinagar-based printed circuit board manufacturing company, is planning to increase its US exports by 20 per cent this fiscal.

For that the company has started recruiting sales executives in the US and has identified some US based firms also.

The company aims to increase its overall export business from the present 25 per cent to 50 per cent and to meet the increased demand the company will double its manufacturing capacity.

The company, with a projected turnover of Rs 40 crore in 2006-07, plans to raise Rs 15 crore through an IPO to fund the expansion with an additional investment of Rs 21 crore. The IPO is likely to come out during April this year.

Paresh Vasani, MD, CSIL told Business Standard, "We are targeting an increase in our US exports by 20 per cent. At present, the company's total export business is 25 per cent of the production. Of the 25 per cent exports at present,. only 5 per cent is exported to the US market, while the rest is exported to the European countries. However, we see a huge business potential in the US market and to tap that market we have already started the process of recruiting sales executives in the US and have also identified some US-based companies which use professional PCBs in their products."

However, Vasani refused to reveal the names of the US-based companies CSIL talking to.

"We plan to increase our export business to 50 per cent of our total production from the present 25 per cent. We are also planning to double our existing manufacturing capacity by setting up a unit in the Gandhinagar Electronic Park (Special Economic Zone) at GIDC Gandhinagar. The present manufacturing capacity of the company is 84,000 sq metre of PCBs per annum. We have sent our proposal to GIDC and the proposal is likely to be approved in a short span of time," Vasani added.

The new facility will be functional by October 2007. "The expansion project will be worth Rs 20.71 crore and of that Rs 14.86 crore will be raised through an IPO. We have already been approved by the Bombay Stock Exchange and SEBI approval is expected shortly."

Vasani added that the global market for PCBs is around $150 million. While the domestic market is also growing. "Presently, we have a 12 per cent share in the domestic market. We have targeted a turnover of Rs 80 crore by 2010-11," he said.

Presently, the company manufactures PCBs for industrial use and companies like Whirlpool, Suzuki, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and ISRO are on the client list of the company.