PSL bags Rs181cr Gail, Rs168cr L&T orders

PSL, engaged in pipe coating and manufacturing, has received an order worth Rs 181.5 crore from Gail for supply of 164.5 KMS of pipe for the Dahej Uran Pipeline project.

According to an official release issued to the BSE today, the company has also received a major water pipeline project from L&T/ECC, Chennai for supply of coated pipes worth Rs 168 crore, for a Japanese-funded project being implemented by Kerala Water Authority.

The company has also announced investment plans in UAE that include setting up a manufacturing plant in Hamriyah Free Trade Zone, Sharjah with start of operations by early 2007, the release added.

PSL will invest about Rs 70 crore to set up a 75,000 tonne per annum plant in Hamriyah Free Trade Zone in Sharjah. This is part of the company's two-phase plan to cater to the growing West Asian market.

"We have signed a land lease agreement with the local government. The
operations will be under PSL FZE, a fully pwned subsidiary of the parent
group," said Ashok Punj, managing director.

The first phase of the project will be over by April 2007, after which the
company will decide on the second phase, as and when the need arises. "The location is ideal. The plant requires port facilities to import raw
materials. And Hamriyah has an excellent post facility.

"Moreover, the finished products from the new plant will need barge loading facilities. The Hamriyah one is just about a hundred metres from the upcoming plant," Punj added.

The company already operates about 12 plants in India with one more to come up in Jaipur. The Sharjah plant will take the company's accumulated capacity to almost 2 million tonne per annum.