Manikchand to increase Oxyrich capacity

To enter power with 500 Mw thermal plant in Maharashtra.

Dhariwal Industries Limited (Manikchand Group) is planning to expand the bottling capacity for its Oxyrich brand by setting up three new plants in the country.

The three plants will come in Mumbai (70 million litres), Ahmedabad (30 million litres) and Lucknow (20 million litres) respectively, group chairman Rasiklal Dhariwal told the media on Monday.

The Rs 1000-crore Manikchand Group - commonly known for its eponymous gutkha brand "" presently has bottling capacity of 2.45 billion litres from plants located at Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabd, Chennai, Haridwar, Aurangabad and Kolhapur.

Dhariwal said all the three plants will be set up by franchisees with technology from Manikchand. "We plan to go national in the next three years by adding more and more capacities," he said.

The company has recently brought Taral variant of bottled water in the regular Rs 12 per litre segment. Taral will not be an oxygenised product, and is addressed to the price sensitive consumer.

The company has recently registered a patent for its oxygenisation process that is used in bottling Oxyrich, he said adding that its main plant at Pune has been certified ISO 22000 for the highest standards of food safety.

Oxyrich contributes Rs 300 crore to the group turnover of Rs 1,000 crore presently and is expected to cross Rs 500 crore of sales in the next three years, Dhariwal said.

Apart from bottled water and gutkha, the Manikchand Group has interests in construction, printing and packaging, greeting and wedding cards, electrical switches and packaged tea.

The group is planning an entry into India's power sector with a thermal power plant at Chandrapur, Maharashtra. The 500-megawatt plant will be set up with a capital outlay of Rs 3,000 crore, Dhariwal said.

The plant will be set up and run by a separate company to be formed as a joint venture with an international power major, Dhariwal said. He did not disclose the name of the power company but said the negotiations with it are at an advanced stage.

The power plant will have a downstream cement plant, which will use the coal ash as input, Dhariwal added.

According to Dhariwal, the process to acquire land for the project has begun and the company is currently working with local land owners. "We have also approached the government agencies like Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for land, but have so far got assurances for about 275 acres," he said. The plant will require a total of 500 acres of land.

Dhariwal said it was still not decided whether the proposed plant will be a merchant power plant under the new policy or whether the company will seek a purchase power agreement with the state electricity board.

In his first elaborate media interaction since the CBI raids on Manikchand Group offices and his residential premises, which were followed by his arrest and release on bail two years ago, Dhariwal freely answered a volley of questions from mediapersons.

On the CBI raids, he said there was no contravention of any law by him or his company and he has nothing to hide from the courts or the government.

"I had to be abroad for a certain number of days to retain my NRI status so the delay in my return to India. My whereabouts were known to the investigating agency as I spoke to them personally as well as wrote to them five times," Dhariwal said.

The case is now before the Supreme Court and a verdict can come any time, he added.

About the charges of Manikchand gutkha containing magnesium carbonate, Dhariwal said the chemical was used as an anti-caking agent and it is much less in proportion than present in many other food substances and even medicines.

"The gutkha manufacturers have collectively represented against this and we are expecting a decision in the matter."

The company is also fighting a case against a Madhya Pradesh- based producer who makes Malikchand gutkha for infringement of trade mark.

"The producer has obtained a stay against us from a court located at some obscure place in the state and we are preparing to gather further evidence to prove our case," he said.