GACL plans Rs 210 crore spread

The Rs 1,100 crore state-run chemical major, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL) has lined up an ambitious Rs 210 crore expansion plans.

The company planning to setting up a caustic soda flaking unit at Dahej at an investment of Rs 9.28 crore and enhance capacity at its caustic soda plant at Vadodara at an investment of Rs 7 crore. It has recently commissioned its calcium chloride plant at Dahej with an investment of Rs 7.5 crore.

"Besides these three new projects, we also have finalised plans to set up a poly aluminium chloride plant at Dahej with a capacity 24,750 Metric Tonne per Annum (MTA), at an investment of Rs 15 crore," P K Taneja, managing director of GACL, told Business Standard on Monday.

The facility would be commissioned by December, 2005.

GACL has also decided to setup a hydrogen peroxide facility at Vadodara with a capacity of 11,000 MTA at an investment of Rs 100 crore as the company believes that there is immense potential in this segment with the demand of hydrogen peroxide growing at 8-10 per cent per annum from the user industry.

A final decision about this project would be taken up by GACL in its board meeting scheduled on Tuesday. Taneja said that the oard has already approved the project in principle. The project would be commissioned in October, 2006.

About the capacity expansion at the Dahej plant, Taneja said,"The Board has approved the proposal to put up 33000 MTA caustic soda expansion plan in Dahej with an investment of Rs 78 crore in the first phase, while we are also planning to add 33000 MTA more in the second phase for which GACL will require to invest another Rs 30 crore.

While the first phase of the expansion project would be over by March, 2006, second phase which will add 33000 MTA more, would be commissioned by September, 2006."

Letter of Intent (LoI) for capacity enhancement of the caustic soda plant at Dahej, setting up of the poly aluminium chloride plant also at Dahej already have been issued and the poly aluminium chloride plant will be setup in collaboration with Contec Inc of Italy, which has the specialisation in setting up such projects.

Only Grasim runs a poly aluminium chloride plant in India and with setting up of this plant, the second poly aluminium chloride plant of India would be commissioned.

GACL holds 16 per cent stake in country's total caustic soda production of 17.35 lakh Metric Tonne as industry estimated by end of the last fiscal year while against the average 77 per cent capacity utilisation in the caustic soda industry, the company has been consistently maintaining more than 100 per cent capacity utilisation.

By end of the quarter ended June, 2004, Gujarat Alkalies posted a net profit of Rs 10.41 crore with a net sales of Rs 241.93 crore compared with a profit after tax of Rs 7.24 crore and net sales of Rs 218.71 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.