Pipe-maker PSL Ltd, which had announced plans to diversify into alternate energy last year, expects to commence work in August 2008.
Initial investment for the project is pegged at Rs 250 crore
MUMBAI: Pipe-maker PSL Ltd, which had announced plans to diversify into alternate energy last year, expects to commence work in August 2008.
The company will diversify into alternate energy through a single-product SEZ at Pipavav in Gujarat. “We are currently waiting second notification for the SEZ and, once that is in place, we will kick off infrastructure work there,” Ashok Punj, managing director, PSL Ltd, said.
The company expects to get the required notification by July 2008.
The size of the land required for a single-product SEZ is 100 hectares and Punj claims the company has taken possession of most of the land needed. “We will build the initial infrastructure and then start marketing the land to different alternate-energy players worldwide,” he said.
Punj said the initial investment in the land under the first phase will be close to Rs 250 crore. Further investments will come from the companies that are interested in setting up units.
He said PSL is talking to a number of companies, but refused to divulge their names as nothing has been finalized so far.
Punj said, apart from the diversification into alternate energy, the company has no other plans as far as forward or backward integration is concerned. “We are currently focusing on bringing our US plant on-stream and strengthening our core pipe manufacturing business,” he said.
PSL is building a 3,00,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) pipe manufacturing plant in the US which is likely to be commissioned by August 2008. However, it will be only till December when the company will start commercial production.
It also plans to invest $30 million (Rs 120 crore) in its Sharjah-based pipe manufacturing plant to up capacity from 75,000 tpa to 200,000 tpa this year.
PSL has also set aside Rs 150 crore for its Indian operations. “Most of the capital expenditure will go into technology upgradation for our Kandla, Jaipur and Vizag plants and some of it will be used for capacity enhancement,” Punj said.
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