Rockwool to set up biggest India factory in Tamil Nadu; to invest Rs 550 cr

Denmark-based Rockwool, one of the leading insulation producers across various segments, will be setting up its largest factory in the country in Tamil Nadu with an outlay of Rs 550 crore, a top official said on Thursday.

Rockwool reported revenues of Euro 3.6 billion and has a presence in 40 countries worldwide.

The new factory expected to come up at Cheyyar, located about 90 km from Chennai in Tiruvannamalai district, is in addition to the company's existing factory in Dahej, Gujarat and would boost revenues from the Indian market in the Group's global turnover.

Earlier in the day, Rockwool Board Chairman Thomas Kahler, its Asia Managing Director Darryl Mathews and India Business Unit Director Vinay Pratap Singh met Chief Secretary N Muruganandham at the secretariat to discuss the company's plans in the state.

"We started our operations in Gujarat in 2011 and we are setting up our second factory in Cheyyar SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) Industrial Park at Euro 55 million (Rs 550 crore). Our plan to set up a new factory in Tamil Nadu is a natural progress in the region as the state is leading in many sectors and also accounts for one-third of India's GDP," Mathews told PTI in an interaction here.

He said the board cleared the proposal for setting up the state-of-the-art factory in the southern parts of the country and, in terms of size, the upcoming factory in Tamil Nadu would be 25 per cent bigger than the current facility in Gujarat.

The factory would come upon a 56 acre plot of land in Cheyyar, he said.

"We are targeting to commence commercial operations from the first half of 2026. The ground-breaking ceremony is expected to take place in November," he said responding to a query.

The company will recruit about 150 people for the factory which would produce about 50,000 tonnes of Rockwool's non-combustible, recycleable and long-lasting stone wool insulation materials similar to the factory in Gujarat. Some of the products manufactured would be used in fire applications, Mathews said.

To another query, he said the upcoming factory in Tamil Nadu would boost the company's revenue contribution to the Group globally.

"Right now, it is not even single digit (revenue generated from India operation to the Group's overall turnover). We expect that to grow significantly with the (commencement of) second factory," he said.

On exports, he said the Gujarat factory meets about 90 per cent of the local demand while the facility in Tamil Nadu would be used only to serve the domestic market.