Augmenting capacity: (from left) Sumant Kumar Razdan, Director-Operations; Pradeep Chowdhry, Managing Director, and P. Chandrasekhara Reddy, Vice-President-Sales and Marketing, Gemini Edibles and Fats displaying the HACCP and FSSC 22000 certification for their Krishnapatnam plant. / P.V. Sivakumar / The HinduGemini Edibles and Fats India Private Limited, a vegetable oil refiners and trading company, is planning to spend Rs 50 crore on capacity expansion and modernisation of its refineries at Kakinada and Krishnapatnam ports.
Post-expansion, the refinery capacity of the company would grow to 1,300 tonnes a day from 1,100 tonnes a day. This is expected to contribute an additional Rs 300 crore to the turnover.
“We are planning to double the capacity at Kakinada refinery to 400 tonnes a day by middle of next calendar year. This will require an expenditure of Rs 25 crore. At Krishnapatnam, we are planning to automate the processes and install some power capacity,” Pradeep Chowdhry, Managing Director, told Business Line.
The company would meet one-third of the capex budget through internal accruals, with rest coming from banks as term loans. The company, which registered a turnover of Rs 1,350 crore in 2011-12, is hoping to cross the Rs 1,500-crore in the next financial year.
“We have prepared a plan for the expansion plan. We will be sending it to the board for approval. We are planning to complete the expansion plan in the next 6-8 months,” he said.
The three-year-old firm invested Rs 135 crore to build the Krishnapatnam plant with a capacity of 800 tonnes a day and acquired the 200-tonne capacity plant at Kakinada.
COMMODITY BIZ
“We are running on full capacity now. Seventy per cent of turnover comes from brands and speciality products, with the resting coming from loose and bulk oil. Our immediate target is to reduce the low-margin commodity business. This will help us shore up our margins,” he said.
He said the company received HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and FSSC 22000 certifications for its Krishnapatnam plant. These certificates conform to global safety standards.
kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in
source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Industry> Agri-Biz / Hyderabad, November 29th, 2012