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French glass and building materials maker Saint-Gobain has invested ₹1,200 crore across projects at its Sriperumubudur manufacturing complex near Chennai that promise to generate jobs for 400 people directly and indirectly.
The company’s new float glass unit, an advanced magnetron coater and glass solutions lines along with an additional capacity rainwater reservoir were inaugurated on Monday by the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the presence of Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, France.
“It has been a great journey for us here in the last 20 years and India is one of the fastest growing markets for Saint-Gobain. A lower level of penetration of glass products in India offers long term growth prospects. Sriperumubudur is the single largest location in Saint-Gobain’s world that has different capabilities,” said de Chalendar.
Industry 4.0
The company has set up its third float glass factory, which is the fifth facility for the group in India.
The new unit, which is meant to cater to both domestic and export markets, is 15 per cent more energy-efficient than its predecessors.
“It is a very large float line. It has a large amount of industry 4.0 built into this and uses early stages of AI for decision making. In the Saint-Gobain world, this is the best of its kind at this point of time in terms of capabilities,” said B Santhanam, Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the €40-billion Saint-Gobain group.
It has also established an advanced magnetron coater and glass solutions’ lines. With this, the complex will have the capacity to manufacture 140 million sq ft of high-performance and energy-efficient glass. This business eyes more export opportunities.
Key facilities
The new advanced glass solutions lines, which will be double-glazed insulated and laminated glass unit, has been set up to produce emerging products such as fire safety and bullet-proof glasses.
Anand Mahajan, Chairman, said the company had been growing at the rate of 10 per cent plus in the recent years and had set an ambitious target to triple its sales in the next 10 years. It clocked ₹7,000 crore in 2018.
The glass maker has added a second rain water harvesting reservoir with a capacity of over 72 million litres. The existing one, set up 10 years ago, has 58 million litre capacity. During poor monsoon periods, its reservoir can support 40 per cent of its water requirements for this entire manufacturing complex.
With the latest spend, Saint-Gobain’s cumulative investments in glass business in the country increases to more than ₹5,500 crore and ₹3,000 crore plus in Tamil Nadu alone.
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