India Foils Ltd (IFL), a member of the Williamson Magor Group has commissioned its Rs 130-crore aluminium foil plant at Kamarhati in West Bengal.
The project comprises the Universal Mill from Achenbach, Germany as its nucleus, along with a Kampf Separator, Hercules Roll Grinder, Annealing Furnaces, Foilstock Rewinder and related servicing plants.
The plant was inaugurated yesterday by the chief minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu. M Khaitan, chairman of the Williamson Magor Group of Companies, state minister for labour, Shanti Ghatak and the state minister for commerce and industry, Bidyut Ganguly were also present on the occasion.
The chief minister said that he was greatly encouraged by Khaitans efforts and exhorted industrialists to be self-reliant. Self-reliance does not mean any kind of isolation. We will seek help and expertise from other countries, but at the same time we must ensure that we do not rely on them. We must learn those skills and apply them ourselves said Basu. He also urged industrialists to take over the management of ailing companies and help turn them around.
In his speech, Khaitan said this plant is our effort to fulfill our obligation to West Bengals prosperity. He further added that it was revealed that the plant was the sixth most modern plant in Asia and the eleventh most modern plant in the world.
The consumption of foil is very limited in India, and stands at around 40,000 tonnes per annum said Khaitan. The foils produced from the new plant will mainly be for the packaging and food processing industries.
The high quality produce from this new plant is expected to have a tremendous global market and is expected to give a major boost to the export thrust of the company.
In the last three years the company has achieved substantial growth in exports which is expected to achieve a quantum leap in the next three years.
