Gold Plus Glass gets Rs 4 bn from Premji Invest to fund expansion plans

Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited (Gold Plus), a domestic float glass manufacturer and a dominant player in the building and architectural glass segment, has raised Rs 4 billion from marquee Indian investor Azim Premji’s investment arm Premji Invest to fund its expansion plans. 

The company said in the next three-four years, Gold Plus will invest over Rs 20 billion to add two new float glass lines in India. 

Premji Invest's funding will help the company increase its capacity by an additional 730,000 tonnes per annum. Through this expansion, Gold Plus plans to cater to the increasing demand, reduce the dependence of significant glass imports, thereby contributing towards the Make in India initiative and also creating large-scale employment opportunities.

Gold Plus operates a fully integrated manufacturing facility at Roorkee in Uttarakhand that is spread across 100 acres, and is the only North Indian facility capable of supplying the highest grades of clear, tinted, hard-coated reflective, frosted and mirror glass from a single location.

This expansion is targeted to capture the growth which is expected to be boosted by government initiatives such as the announcement of 100+ smart cities, development of airports, metros, large infrastructure projects, increased use of energy efficient materials in construction and high demand from the real estate replacement and redevelopment market. 

Altamount Capital Management was an exclusive advisor to Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited. 

Gold Plus currently operates two float glass lines (clear glass and tinted glass) with a combined installed capacity of 427,000 tonnes per annum. It commands a 16 per cent share of the currently installed float glass capacities in the country. 

Gold Plus also operates two processing units in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for value-added glass such as toughened, laminated, insulating, ceramic printed, acoustic, bulletproof and automotive glass. Gold Plus, through its processing units, has executed several marquee turnkey projects not only India but also in Nepal, Bhutan, the UK and Qatar. Some of the prestigious projects include the Parliament Library of India, Sahara Star dome, Grand Hyatt – Delhi and key development centres of Infosys, among others. 

Subhash Tyagi, the Founder and Chairman of Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited, said, “We believe that the investment from Premji Invest will help us accelerate our expansion plans and also enable us to increase our market share". 

The growth in the demand for float glass in India is expected to be robust on a long-term basis.

According to Tyagi, the country needs to add two-three float lines every three years to match up with the demand requirement.