Sanmar to pump in Rs 2,825 crore to expand

It has now chalked out around Rs 2,825 crore fresh investments plans. In 1967, the first PVC resin unit with a capacity of 6,000 tons was set up at Mettur. 

Since then, Chemplast Sanmar has turned into a integrated chemical manufacturer leading to its expansion into Cuddalore and Karaikal also. It has become the largest manufacturer of speciality paste PVC resin in the country (66,000 tons per annum – TPA) and the second largest manufacturer of commodity suspension (3,00,000 TPA). 

It also expanded into chlorochemicals after an acquisition in the mid-eighties. The company has grown organically by de-bottlenecking at its existing sites and inorganically through acquisitions, notes Ramkumar Shankar, MD, Chemplast Sanmar, who highlighted the milestones reached over the five decades.  

Sharing the company’s futuristic vision, he said it will triple the capacity of its suspension PVC to 1 million TPA and retain its leadership in the paste PVC segment by constantly adding capacities. There is a plan to set up a chlorinated PVC plant through a 50:50 joint venture with the French company Kem One. “This plant at Karaikal will go on-stream in two years,” Shankar said, adding it had also embarked on a diversification strategy to manufacture hydrogen peroxide.   

Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman of the Group, said the CPVC plant envisages an investment of Rs 350 cr, which will be serviced through internal accruals and borrowings. “This is a fast-growing import-intensive product and we will work towards filling up the gap,” he said, adding the unit’s capacity would be 20,000 TPA. 

Seeing an opportunity to acquire the assets of a company in Andhra Pradesh has been the basis that would drive integration for hydrogen in the existing market. The 18,000 TPA plant would service the markets of Mettur, Tirupur and Erode. The revenue would be Rs 450 cr to Rs 500 cr between the two projects.