DCM Shriram plans ₹1,070-cr investment

Our Bureau The DCM Shriram board on Tuesday approved an investment of ₹1,000 crore in building downstream capabilities in its chemical portfolio.

The board met here to approve the diversified conglomerate’s third quarter results.

DCM Shriram posted a net profit of ₹253 crore in the quarter ended December 2020, 44 per cent more than ₹175 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This was despite its revenue coming down by 1.6 per cent to ₹2,159 crore over the same period.

Expanding downstream

The proposed investments include setting up a 52,500-tonne-per-year hydrogen peroxide (bleaching agent used in multiple industries) unit and a 51,000-tpa epichlorohydrin (a raw material for epoxy resin production) unit along with a glycerine purification facility at its existing Bharuch plant in Gujarat, a company statement said. It will also increase aluminium chloride production capacity at the plant by 32,850 tpa from the present 21,900 tonnes. All projects will be implemented over a period of 24 months.

Though the DCM board approved an investment of ₹1,070 crore, there was pushback on timelines due to Covid-19. As a result, its 120 MW power plant will now be commissioned only by the fourth quarter of the next financial year.

“These investments will provide strength to our overall chlorine utilisation strategy and pave way for DCM Shriram to enter into value-added businesses. We are widening horizons by going beyond caustic and chlorine into hydrogen peroxide and epicholorohydrin while leveraging our strong product base and cost competitiveness,” said Ajay S Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director, DCM Shriram Ltd.

DCM Shriram is the second largest Chlor Alkali producer in India with an existing capacity of approximately 6.50 lakh tpa between its Bharuch and Kota manufacturing facilities. The Bharuch facility is the single largest Chlor alkali site in India and this expansion will further enhance the scale along with the necessary integration capabilities.