The Hindu Business Line : Riddhi Siddhi announces Rs 120-cr capex plans

(LEFT) MR MARC Roquette, Chairman, Roquette Freres, with Mr Sampatraj Chowdhary, Chairman, Riddhi Siddhi Gluco Biols Ltd, at a press conference held in Mumbai on Monday. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai , April 10

Riddhi Siddhi Gluco Biols Ltd (RSGBL), manufacturer of starch and its derivatives, has announced capex plans worth Rs 120 crore to improve existing facilities and set up a new maize processing complex at Uttaranchal.

The new plant, to be completed by March 2007, will have the capacity to process 1,65,000 tonnes of maize per annum. The project will be funded by a combination of equity, internal accruals and debt. The company has tied up bank loans to the tune of Rs 65 crore from Oriental Bank of Commerce and IDBI. The company would use the preferential allotment to raise funds through the equity route, company officials said.

Following the completion of this project, the company expects a doubling of its sales revenue and thereby an increase in profits.

In March this year, RSGBL entered into an alliance with French company Roquette Freres which acquired a 14.95 per cent stake in the former by investing Rs 31.73 crore. At a conference here on Monday, Mr G. Chowdhary, Managing Director, RSGBL, said through this agreement, RSGBL would be able to utilise the technical know-how and wide product portfolio of Roquette to expand the starch industry in India.

Roquette Freres, France with a turnover exceeding 2 billion, has production facilities in Europe, the US and Asia and marketing network spread over 100 countries, through subsidiaries and agents.

French co optimistic

Mr Marc Roquette, Chairman of Roquette Freres, also present at the conference, said t he was optimistic about the future of starch industry in the world and added that research was being conducted to study the feasibility of starch and its derivatives as a substitute for petroleum.

Riddhi Siddhi has three corn wet milling plants located at Gokak (Karnataka), Viramgam, (Gujarat) and Pondicherry, respectively and uses starch obtained from maize to generate products for the food, pharmaceutical, textile, paper and chemical industries. Its client list includes Nestle, Cadbury, Ranbaxy, Cipla, Bombay Dyeing, Hindustan Newsprint, Hindalco and Amul, among others.

The company recorded a turnover of Rs 198.7 crore in 2005 and hopes to almost double their exports by 2007 from the current level of Rs 15 crore. The company exports its products to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Japan and other Middle East and South East Asian countries.

Shares of Riddhi ended at Rs 196.30, an increase of 3.62 per cent from the previous close of Rs 189.45 on BSE.

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