V-Guard lines up Rs 100 cr for expansion

Kochi-based V-Guard group, comprising V-Guard Industries, Veegaland and Wonderland Amusement Parks, plans to invest Rs 100 crore for expansion during the next fiscal.

The group will be focusing mainly on strengthening its marketing network in the upcountry states.

V-Guard Industries, the flagship company of the group, will expand its marketing network by opening more direct offices and appointing more dealerships in major cities across north India and the North East. The group also plans to come out with an initial public offering by the end of the year.

The company will soon appoint dealerships in major cities like Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat, Bhopal and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Rourkela and Baleshwar in Orissa, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Chandighar in Haryana, Jaipur in Rajasthan and in Kolkata.

A top official of the group told Business Standard that the appointment of dealerships in major cities and towns would be completed within the next six months.

It would extend the network in all the states except Jammu and Kashmir. V- Guard Industries will also open direct offices in Bhopal soon. Currently, it has a presence in cities like Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Gurgaon and Noida.

Meanwhile, the group's new amusement park at Panvel in Mumbai will be operational by 2009. The project, which is estimated to be completed with an investment of Rs 100 crore, will be the third after Kochi and Bangalore.

The company has acquired 60 acres of land for the project. It proposes to construct the fourth amusement park in Hyderabad.

V- Guard Industries, which saw its turnover cross the Rs 180-crore mark, has targeted Rs 230 crore turnover by the end of the current fiscal.

The group's turnover is expected to cross over Rs 280 crore in the current fiscal, the official said.

V-Guard produces popular household equipment like stabilisers, wiring cables, mono block pumps, solar and electrical water heaters and fans.