Arvind Ltd. has announced the formation of a joint venture with the PD Fiber Glass Group of Germany for the manufacture of glass fabrics in India. The venture will cater to the requirements of a cross-section of industries like automobiles & transportation, wind energy, aerospace, ship building & infrastructure, etc.
Besides infrastructure, India is making rapid strides in wind energy by becoming the fourth largest player in the world. It is also becoming a hub for automobile production. These three sectors wind energy, automotive and infrastructure are likely to lead the growth of the glass fabric market in India.
The joint venture, Arvind PD Glass Composites Pvt. Ltd., will have a 51:49 equity participation from Arvind and PD Group respectively. A total investment of Rs. 80 crores in five years is planned for the project which will manufacture 30,000 MT/year of glass fabrics.
Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director, Arvind Ltd., said: ìThis move is part of a long-term strategy for our technical textiles business ñ a division we have established to explore new technologies in advanced textiles. We believe the coming years will see the global glass composite industry grow at a staggering 25% every year. This JV is projected to achieve a revenue of Rs. 250 crores after the first phase of investments. This will double to a revenue of Rs. 500 crores after the investments made in the second phase.
Mr. Preiss Daimler, Managing Director, PD Management Group, observed: ìIn line with our growth aspirations and conviction in the global growth story of Fiber Glass Reinforcements, this is an important step for covering a larger global market and providing cost efficient solutions. Arvind, with its experience in weaving technology, and PD Group being the pioneer of the glass fiber to fabric industry, complement each other well in this partnership.
The new facility will manufacture woven, bi-axial and multi-axial glass fabrics along with stitched and chopped mat-glass fabrics. A large part of the new company’s output will be marketed overseas.
India currently is a small market for glass fabrics, but as the country’s aerospace, auto and wind energy sectors grow demand is likely to expand considerably.