Grasim plans Rs 700 cr rayon plant in Andhra

Requests for 413 acres of land in Khammam district

Aditya Birla Group company Grasim India is planning to set up a Rs 700 crore greenfield rayon fibre plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Sources said that senior company officials, including group executive president S K Saboo, had held discussions with Andhra government officials on the possible location of the proposed plant and infrastructural requirements in the first week of November.

The Andhra Pradesh industries department last Thursday issued a letter of consent to the company offering various facilities required for the establishment of the plant.

The company has, it is learnt, requested for 370 acres of land in east Godavari district and 413 acres of land near Kothagudem in Khammam district. Grasim officials have scanned possible sites in east Godavari and Khammam districts, sources told Business Standard.

The government also has suggested a few places like the coastal town of Machilipatnam for the sake of easy disposal of effluents. The company is yet to finalise the location.

Sources said the company is planning to set up a 240 tonne per day capacity viscous staple fibre plant, which would provide direct employment to nearly 600 people and indirect employment to over 2,000 people.

Though the company officials plan to import pulp required for the plant from Canada and elsewhere, tying up with the state forest department for the supply of wood required for making pulp has not been ruled out.

"Once the company firms up its plans, all these details would be worked out," an industries department official pointed out.

This move is expected to boost the confidence of the Andhra Pradesh government, which recently announced an exclusive textile policy offering various incentives to the textile and garment units for tapping global export opportunities in this sector.

The Andhra government announced a special package of incentives to mega projects with investments above Rs 100 crore or to those units, which create employment for more than 2,500 people.