Bihar tubes mulls setting up two Rs 100-cr plants

Bihar Tubes, which supplies steel tubes to companies like NTPC and Ashok Leyland, is planning to set up two mills, one each in eastern and western parts of India, at an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore.

"We already have a presence in North and South India. Now we want to foray in western and eastern parts for setting up 1 lakh tonnes per annum plants at an investment of about Rs 50 crore each. For West, we are looking at sites in Maharashtra and Gujarat, but we are open to other sites as well," Bihar Tubes Director Aniq Hussian told PTI.

The Bombay Stock Exchange-listed entity aims to tap the growing demand of its products in the country and had yesterday commissioned a Rs 100-crore plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, its second steel tube mill in southern India.

"On the back of demand from infrastructure and automobile companies, demand for steel tubes will rise 15-20 per cent in next two years," he added.

The Hosur plant, set up in collaboration with Japan's Kusakabe, has an annual production capacity of 2 lakh tonnes and has ramped up the firm's combined annual production capacity to 4 lakh tonnes.

The firm has two mills in Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh.

The company exports 10-12 per cent of its produce to US and Europe annually, he said.

For the nine-month period ended December 2009, it reported net profit of Rs 26.5 crore.