Arvind inks JV with PD Glass

In a step forward in the technical textiles vertical, Arvind Ltd, country's largest denim maker, has entered into a joint venture agreement with a German firm, PD Fibre Glass Group to manufacture glass fabrics for the industries in wind power, shipbuilding and automobile sector. The company aims to generate revenues worth Rs 250 crore over a period of next three years from the new venture.

A joint venture, Arvind PD Glass Composites Pvt Ltd has been set up with 51 per cent equity partnership of Arvind and 49 per cent of PD Group. For the two-phased project, the company will invest Rs 80 crore over a period of next five years.

"This is an extension of our operations as we already have expertise in the technical textiles segment. Glass fibre will be sold to a range of industries in India and overseas. As a strategic move, we are looking to leverage more on the technical textiles business," informed Sanjay Lalbhai, chairman and managing director, Arvind Ltd at a media interaction in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The company will manufacture woven, bi-axial and multi-axial glass fabrics along with stitched and chopped mat-glass fabrics at its existing unit at Santej near Ahmedabad.

The company will use imported machinery from Germany, which will cost around Rs 10 crore. The machinery is likely to be installed by February 2012 and production to start by March-April 2012.

As a strategic expansion in the glass fibre manufacturing, Arvind looks to capitalise on its core strength, which is technical textiles. "Resins, which is one of the materials for us is made by our group company, Atul Ltd. Also, we have strong market presence, this makes a sensible proposition for us to venture into this new initiative," added Lalbhai. Initially, the company will have an annual capacity of about 30,000 tonnes of glass fibre. "Of our total production, about 30 per cent will be sold in domestic market, while the rest will be exported to countries in South East Asia and Middle East," said Punit Lalbhai, executive director, new initiatives, Arvind Ltd.

"This is a fairly new vertical for our technical textiles division and this year it should contributes about Rs 150 crore to our total turnover. However, over the next five years, we are looking at the turnover of Rs 500 crore from this glass fibre vertical," informed Sanjay Lalbhai.

Nearly 85 per cent of the total production from the new venture will be sold to the wind energy sector, while some possible buyers include Mahindra Group for making speed boats.

"This is our first venture in India. The business is emerging for the wind energy market and we are waiting for more companies to enter this segment. Globally there is a good demand of such products," said Stefan Preiss-Daimler, managing director, PD Management Group.