Welspun to set up new pipe plant

Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd (WGSRL), manufacturers of SAW pipes, has now forayed into the manufacture of high frequency induction weld (HFIW) pipes.

The company expects the new plant to be operational by June 2004. With this, GWSRL will have the full range of pipe manufacturing facilities beginning with pipes of six-inch diameter to pipes with a diameter of 72 inches.

GWSRL CEO Braja Misra said on Thursday that the company will invest over Rs 50 crore in the first phase for the HFIW pipes plant which will come up in the same complex at its Bharuch plant.

"With capabilities of manufacturing the whole range of pipes and even coating them, the company will have a cutting edge over others as there are just a handful of companies in the world which have such a wide product portfolio," he said.

The new plant will manufacture pipes with a diameter of between six inches and 16 inches.

The manufacturing facilities of the new plant will be brought from US.

The company will install a 4 MW gas-based power plant for the new project."

The company already has a pipe coatings solutions plant and with the foray into HFIW, we would be able to synergise the operational capabilities in both the plants," Misra said.

Earlier this month, Bharuch-based the company had approved the limit of investments by foreign institutional investors in the company from the existing 22 per cent to up to 40 per cent. The decision was taken at an extra ordinary general meeting of the company, held on January 7.

FIIs already have a share of 22 per cent in the paid-up share capital of the company, and this limit has been increased to 40 per cent.

The CEO said, "The demand for transporting gas will grow manifold. With our manufacturing facilities in Gujarat, we are well placed to meet this demand."

The company, a joint venture between Welspun and the Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation, was founded in 1995.

It has an installed capacity of two lakh MTPA and was floated with an initial outlay of $75 million.

It is one of the leading manufacturers of submerged arc welded pipes in India. Intertec Gmbh, Germany, provides the technical expertise in this venture.

The company is also into coating of pipes with a joint venture with Eupec Pipe Coatings Ltd, France.

During the current year, WGSRL is executing the Rs 393 crore DVPL pipeline project for GAIL and has also bagged orders from Iran.

In the domestic market, WGSRL is looking at the huge potential available in pipeline projects like Gas Grid of GSPL in Gujarat, Reliance Gas and GAIL.