Gujarat NRE Coke to invest Rs 1,000 cr in AP plant

Gujarat NRE Coke said it will invest around Rs 1,000 crore in an upcoming one million-tonne coke plant, besides a 60-MW power utility, in Andhra Pradesh.

"We will invest Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the AP plant," Gujarat NRE Coke chairman Arun Jagatramka said, adding that acquisition of land was underway and work on the project would begin by December this year.

The plant would require 500 acres of land, he added.

At present, Gujarat NRE has two coke plants in Gujarat and Karnataka with a combined capacity of 1.36 million tonnes. It is the largest merchant coke producer in the country.

He said that the Andhra Pradesh plant, catering to the needs of user industries located on the east coast, would be ready by 2013.

Stating that the investment was part of the normal capex plan, Jagatramka said that the company plans to spend Rs 200 crore annually as capex over the next two years.

Jagatramka said that the company was eyeing a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore in FY'10 and Rs 2,000 crore in FY'11.