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N. Ramakrishnan

Chennai, May 22 Saint-Gobain Glass India Ltd will decide in the next four to six weeks the location for its planned expansion. The company is looking at sites in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and at its existing plant near Chennai for the expansion.

The decision will depend on a number of factors such as the product mix, logistics cost, proximity to markets, ease of exports and government support, according to Mr B. Santhanam, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain Glass India.

“I would say that there is a good possibility for multiple investments,” he told Business Line at the Saint-Gobain Glass India’s plant at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai..

The company, according to him, has fairly large investments planned over the next five years in a range of products — basic glass, advanced glass and automotive products.

Saint-Gobain’s plant has two float glass lines with a total capacity of about 5 lakh tonnes a year. It also makes laminated and tempered glass for the automotive industry. Mr Santhanam said the float glass industry was hugely capital intensive and hence the company’s programme entailed investments in excess of Rs 1,500 crore.

For basic products, it made sense for the company to have its plant close to the demand centres while for advanced glass products the benefits (from the government) that the company got and the skills available will determine the location.

The photo-voltaic industry was another big business opportunity and with fairly large investments planned in the sector, the company would have to examine these investment decisions also before it decided on fresh investments. “We will make one big call in the next four to six weeks and then take the next set of investments. We are in talk with all the governments,” Mr Santhanam said.

The float glass industry has two large end users — the construction industry and the automotive sector. Mr Santhanam does not think that there is a slowdown in the construction sector. On the contrary, with emphasis now on energy-efficient buildings, he feels that Saint-Gobain with its range of advanced products is best suited to tap this segment.

The automotive segment too, he feels, will see a growth, especially of cars in the Rs 3- 7 lakh price bracket. This is because of the new car models that have been launched since the second half of 2007. Hyundai Motor India’s expanded capacity is on stream and there will also be a good growth in exports. The scheduled launch of the Tata Nano in the second half of this year will also help the company as it is the sole supplier for the car. In 2006 (January-December is the company’s financial year), Saint-Gobain’s turnover was about Rs 800 crore and it would have grown by close to 25 per cent last year.

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