The Hindu Business Line : Vesuvius India to double capacity by 2007

MR FRANCOIS WANECQ, President and CEO, Vesuvius Group, and Mr Biswadip Gupta, Managing Director of Vesuvius India Ltd, in Kolkata on Thursday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

Kolkata , April 20

Refractory major Vesuvius India Ltd will double production capacities by end-2007.

The company is currently expanding, in phases, its three plants in Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Mehsana. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 130 crore.

The company has already invested Rs 45 crore from internal accruals.

Talking to newspersons after the company's annual general meeting here on Thursday, the Managing Director, Mr Biswadip Gupta, said the capacity of the Kolkata plant would be stepped up in modules from 800 pieces to 1,600 pieces a day over the next 15-16 months.

The project cost is estimated to be over Rs 80 crore. "We are now experiencing a demand growth only through brownfield expansion.

Accordingly, we have decided to move in phases, in keeping with the demand growth," Mr Gupta said.

Vesuvius has acquired land adjacent to its existing facility in the city at a cost of Rs 5 crore for capacity expansion.

The expansion of the Visakhapatnam facility to 40,000 tonnes per annum will be completed in May this year, and work at Mehsana has been completed. The total cost of expansion at both facilities is about Rs 10 crore. Apart from meeting the requirements of the steel sector, arguably the mainstay of the business, the Mehsana and Visakhapatnam factories would also cater to the petrochemicals sector.