Astral to invest Rs 30 cr on CPVC fire sprinkler pipes

Having bagged the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for its CPVC BlazeMaster Fire Sprinkler Pipes, a first in the industry, Ahmedabad-based Astral Poly Technik Limited is set to invest around Rs  25-30 crore on the system.

“Now that we have received the BIS certification, we can begin commercial operations for the CPVC fire sprinkler pipes. While the pipes would be manufactured on the existing CPVC manufacturing machines, we need to upgrade the system as well as we are increasing our capacity. Hence, we will be investing around Rs  25-30 crore for BlazeMaster,” said Sandeep Engineer, Managing Director of Astral Poly Technik Limited.

So far the Indian pipes market is predominantly controlled by metallic pipes for fire sprinkler system. However, post BIS certification, Astral will be the first mover in the country for Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) polymer fire sprinkler solutions.  According to Astral, the CPVC fire sprinkler system will be absolutely free from all shortcomings that metallic pipes face such as corrosion, scaling and rusting.

BlazeMaster CPVC pipe and fittings are specifically designed for fire sprinkler systems having various advantages such as faster and easier installation process, light weight material for ease of transportation and maneuverability on the job site, superior water delivery, resistant to scale and corrosion to pipe, and low flame and smoke characteristics.

The company has four manufacturing locations for pipes and fittings including Santej, Dholka, Baddi and Hosur.  At the year end 2013, Santej plant had a capacity of 48,341 MT to manufacture plumbing systems, whereas the Baddi plant’s manufacturing capacity for CPVC fittings and valves is around 4,914 M.T.  The Dholka plant, on the other hand, has a capacity of 23,957 MT.

Moreover, to cater the southern market of the country, the company is putting up its fourth plant at Hosur with an initial capacity of 7,000 M.T. which will be increased over a period of time. In all, today company has total production capacity of 95,000 MT (roughly) and within a span of next 2 years they plan to achieve a total capacity of over 130,000 MT.

The fiscal year 2012-13 saw Astral Poly Technik Ltd achieve a turnover of Rs  821 crore at a growth of CAGR 42.78 per cent. Similarly, FY ‘13 has seen the company achieve a net profit of Rs  59.5 crore, registering a growth of CAGR 36.69 per cent since 2007.