US packaging major Ball Corporation sets up aerosol can plant at Sanand

The plant will be set up with an initial investment of Rs 120 cr and would be scaled up to Rs 530 cr in the long run

Ball Corporation, an US-based packaging major worth $8.6 billion, a market leader in providing packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products, is all set to inaugurate its first plant for making aluminium aerosol cans in India at Sanand, around 30 km from Ahmedabad. The plant will be set up with an initial investment of Rs 120 crore and would be scaled up to Rs 530 crore in the long run. The company also plans to export around 25 per cent of its production here to countries in West Asia.

The company's Sanand plant would make aerosol cans for the FMCG industry that can be used by deodorant players, room-freshener products etc. Talking about the Indian market, the company here said that the size of the aerosol container market in the country is about 400 million units in India at the moment, and is clocking a double digit growth. "India is the biggest consumer market in the region, and the aerosol cans market here is growing in double digits," said Sebastien Gaspari, director, strategy and business development, Ball Aerocan Europe S.A.S.

 

The company's immediate clientele in India would include Ahmedabad-based Vini Cosmetics promoted by ex-Paras Pharma promoter Darshan Patel. Ball Corporation would start with just one line here at Sanand with a capacity of 50 million units per annum, and eventually expand to six lines with a total capacity of 300 million units per annum.

While the company's main business comes from metal beverage cans (revenues worth $6.1 billion), it is also into food and household products containers ($1.5 billion) and aerospace technologies ($935 million). Daniel Rabbitt, vice president and general manager, Global Ball Aerocan, Ball Corporation said that in the long run there was scope to start a second plant in India for the food and household products division.