Page 141 - CW E-Magazine (19-3-2024)

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SET FOR GROWTH
Pondy Oxides and Chemicals acquires land in Mundra

for expansion

Pondy Oxides and Chemicals Ltd., “The lead-acid market shows commercially viable projects for the
a Chennai-based manufacturer of promising growth potential in the company.
lead, lead alloys, zinc oxide and plas- coming years as more countries shift
tic additives, is set to invest around towards circular economy models This project carries the potential
Rs. 570-crore in greenfi eld and brown- where products are designed for reuse to generate an additional revenue of
fi eld capacity expansion programmes. and recycling, thereby presenting Rs. 750-crore per annum for the fi rst
an opportunity for manufacturers phase and after that on an incremental
The Rs. 1,480-crore company has to recover valuable materials from basis with other projects coming
bought 123 acres of land in Mundra, used batteries and recycle them into in, according to Mr. K. Kumaravel,
Gujarat, at a cost of Rs. 41-crore for the production cycle. Also, the need Director – Finance of the company.
future expansions. for reliable energy storage solutions
will continue to rise, driving demand The company is raising about
“The acquisition of land is a signi- for lead acid batteries as well,” said Rs. 133-crore, of which the fi rst
fi cant step in prioritising our strategic Mr. Bansal. tranche of Rs. 70-crore will be utilised
expansion plans. The investment is to fund the lead capacity expansion
aimed at establishing and expanding The company has proposed to set at Thervoykandigai.
facilities in existing and other related up a state-of-the-art recycling and
manufacturing verticals,” the company manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu The company’s major customers
informed in a stock exchange fi ling. for non-ferrous metals, lithium-ion are battery manufacturers and chemi-
batteries, paper, plastics, and rubber. cal manufacturers.
The Mundra location is expected It plans to invest Rs. 300-500 crore
to help the company better serve the in the proposed projects over the next The company is one of the largest
Western Region and expand export fi ve years. exporters of lead products from India.
capabilities. It ships its products directly to the
These are in the feasibility stages battery manufacturers in countries
Meanwhile, the company has taken and are being discussed internally like Japan, South Korea, Thailand,
up a brownfi eld and a greenfi eld on techno-commercial grounds to Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia,
projects for capacity ramp-up. It is evaluate the opportunities availa- among others. Exports account for
expected to invest about Rs. 70-crore ble at hand and translate them into about 55% of revenues.
in increasing lead capacity of its newly
acquired company – from 132,000-tpa Exploring legal options on SC ruling
to 204,000-tpa at Thervoykandigai near
Chennai. on copper plant: Vedanta

“We have already started procure- Mining major Vedanta Ltd. has ing plant, closed since May 2018 over
ment of machinery, execution and said it is exploring legal options, pollution concerns, while underlining
development of the expansion. including fi ling a review petition, on the importance of the health and wel-
a Supreme Court ruling, dismissing fare of the local residents.
The installation will commence in its special leave petition (SLP) filed
June 2024 and it will be commissioned against the closure of the copper Vedanta said it had filed the SLP
by September 2024,” Mr. Ashish smelter plant at Thoothukudi. before the Supreme Court against
Bansal, Managing Director, Pondy the order of Division Bench of
Oxides and Chemicals Ltd. said On March 5, 2024, the Supreme Madras High Court, which upheld
during the Q3FY24 earnings call of Court had dismissed the company’s the closure of the copper smelter
the company. plea for re-opening its copper smelt- plant at Thoothukudi.

Chemical Weekly March 19, 2024 141

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