HIL will continue to grow at 15 percent

HIL Limited, a flagship company of the C.K. Birla Group of companies, will continue to grow at 15 percent with strong focus on green building products, managing director Abhaya Shankar said Wednesday.

HIL, formerly Hyderabad Industries Limited, a house-hold name in asbestos cement (AC) roof sheeting, is increasing by five percent every year the share of green building products in its revenue.

The Hyderabad-based company has reduced the AC roof sheeting revenue to 80 percent, against 90 percent a couple of years ago.

Shankar told reporters here that the company was growing at 10-15 percent every year and they would like to continue 15 percent growth. Its revenues were Rs.950 crore during 2011-12, almost doubled in four years.

He declined to share the numbers for 2012-13, saying the board meeting would be held soon.

He said the infrastructure sector had taken a huge hit due to the economic slowdown, affecting their business. Hoping that the current year would be better than the last, he said this would depend on the government policies and the fiscal policy of the Reserve Bank of India.

Over six-decade old HIL is transforming itself into a manufacturer of green building products and solutions provider in tune with the changing demands of environment-conscious consumers.

The company, however, is not giving up manufacture of crystolite asbestos roof sheeting.

Shankar said AC roof sheeting continue to be an affordable source of hard roof for rural and low-income households.

He said a Nielson study recently showed that HIL's AC roof sheeting Charminar was ahead of any brand name in building material space. "We are further strengthening this brand but also pushing other brands," he said.

He said by the end of current fiscal, they would increase the capacity of their Aerocon Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks capacity at Surat plant from 3.2 lakh cubic meters to 4.2 lakh cubic metres.

The demand for AAC blocks is increasing as the traditional red bricks are considered environmentally bad.