Visaka setting up new asbestos cement plant in Orissa

Visaka Industries is setting up a 100,000-tonne capacity asbestos cement sheet plant at Sambalpur in Orissa at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore to meet the rural demand, according to vice-chairman G Vivekanand.

This apart, the company is ramping up the capacity of its Pune plant from 65,000 tonne to 100,000 tonne with Rs 15 crore investment. This is expected to be ready in a year.

Visaka, which is diversifying into the power segment, has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government for setting up a 1,000-Mw power plant in two phases at an estimated to cost Rs 4,000 crore. It has initiated the land acquisition process and will form a special purpose vehicle in a joint venture to execute the project. Internal accruals and long term debt will be sought for the project, he said.