The Rs 300-crore Euro Ceramics Ltd, a leading manufacturer of vitrified tiles is embarking on a Rs 575-crore expansion plan at a new site in Ankleshwar away from its unit in Kutch. This capacity expansion will be funded through bank loans and internal accruals, a top company official said.
The company has already acquired land and production at the new facility is scheduled to begin from September 2009.
“Earlier we had thought of raising funds through QIP (qualified insitutional placement) for this expansion but now we have decided to borrow from banks and put money from internal accruals. We don’t have any plans to dilute our stake from the current holding of 67 per cent,” said Paresh Shah, Director, Euro Ceramics.
The company is also diversifying into production of sanitaryware and entering the retail business to sell its entire product range under one roof. So far strong in the institutional market, the retail foray is aimed at penetrating into the high yielding retail market.
“Production from the sanitaryware division will commence from April this year and we have invested Rs 77 crore in this project,” Shah said.
The BSE-listed Euro Ceramics is a part of the laminates to aluminum composite panels to compact disc producer Euro group. Its sister company, privately held Euro Multi Vision Ltd, is currently the nation's second largest CD manufacturer and is venturing into the manufacture of eco-friendly solar photo-voltaic cells which have high demand in the European and American markets. The group is also venturing into production of glasses with an investment plan of Rs 550 crore. This factory will come up in Ankleshwar. The Indian glass market is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore and is growing at 18 per cent
{{/usCountry}}The BSE-listed Euro Ceramics is a part of the laminates to aluminum composite panels to compact disc producer Euro group. Its sister company, privately held Euro Multi Vision Ltd, is currently the nation's second largest CD manufacturer and is venturing into the manufacture of eco-friendly solar photo-voltaic cells which have high demand in the European and American markets. The group is also venturing into production of glasses with an investment plan of Rs 550 crore. This factory will come up in Ankleshwar. The Indian glass market is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore and is growing at 18 per cent
{{/usCountry}}Shah said the company has already set up 40 retail stores in leading markets across the country under the brand name Euro Stiles Stations, selling the Euro range of products exclusively. “We have plans to add 60 more showrooms by May 2009 through the franchise route. The consumers get confused in a fragmented market where clusters of brands compete with one another. Our showrooms will guide them to select the right products,” shah said.