Kemrock Industries plans to set up carbon fibre facility

Kemrock Industries and Exports Ltd of Vadodara is in the process of setting up a facility for producing carbon fibres.

In six months, when production goes online, it would be the only company in the country producing carbon fibres.

The new facility will the help the company enter the estimated $12-billion global carbon fibres market.

Mr Kalpesh Patel, Chairman and Managing Director of Kemrock, said the company is trying to make inroads into this market monopolised by the Japanese.

“At present, our 300-tonne capacity, created with Rs 200-crore capex is being fine tuned and once we fully stabilise in six months, then we will start production. By 2013, we hope to scale-up our production to 2,000 tonnes,” he said.

Kemrock has also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) for a joint venture company for developing carbon fibres. Its 300 tonnes would be procured by HAL for aerospace applications.

Carbon fibres are also called carbon fibre-reinforced plastics. It is a strong and light weight composite material, which is increasingly replacing aluminium and other alloys in aerospace, military missile applications, and even the F1 racing car industry.

Globally 70 per cent production of carbon fibres is with Japanese companies. These companies are reluctant to supply carbon fibres to India for strategic applications.

Dr S.C. Lakkad, expert on composite materials and former Deputy Director of IIT-Bombay, told Business Line that carbon fibres are difficult to make as the final product is sensitive and dependent on the processes it undergoes. While producing the fibres, toxic hydrocyanic gas is also produced, and this needs to be contained properly.

“Currently as India is export dependent on carbon fibres, some of these foreign companies sell us the material at inflated rates. They also keep an eye on us, whether we are using it for a missile casing or as any other strategic material,” Mr Patel said.

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