Gravita India, one of the leading manufacturers of lead-based products, plans to set up a joint venture lead recycling plants in South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

The company has proposed to set up a 6,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) lead recycling plant in Johannesburg and 7,200 tpa at Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

“We are in the final stage of signing the deal with our joint venture partners and would soon be able to share the financial details,” said Mr M.C. Mehta, President, Gravita India.

The company also plans to set up manufacturing units in Australia, Belarus, Chile and Mexico with an outlay of about Rs 19 crore, he said. These units will be primarily involved in manufacture of remelted lead ingots.

Besides tapping new markets, the overseas venture will help the Jaipur-based Gravita to benefit from cheap and readily available raw materials from battery scrap and other materials.

Last month, Gravita India along with its subsidiary Gravita Exim acquired 60 per cent stake in Jammu-based K.M. Udyog with an installed lead manufacturing and refining capacity of 7,200 tpa.

After the acquisition, Gravita India capacity was enhanced to 45,900 tpa.

The Jammu unit will derive benefits of exemption from excise duty, income tax and other special benefits granted to Jammu and Kashmir.

The acquisition is expected to improve the top line and bottom line by about Rs 65 crore and Rs 3 crore in this fiscal, the company said.

The company's shares on the BSE were up 0.19 per cent at Rs 361.60 on Wednesday.

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