Birlas line up Rs 1.5k cr investments for Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: The Rs 45,000-crore Aditya Birla Group is planning to invest Rs 1,500-crore across four projects in Gujarat. The investments will be made by two group companies, Grasim Industries and Hindalco Industries in Bharuch and Dahej, respectively. The projects are part of the Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summit this year.

Grasim Industries will invest Rs 700 crore in setting up a green-field project to manufacture viscose fibre in Vilayat near Bharuch. “The investments will be made over a period of 18 to 24 months,” sources in state government told ET.

In addition, Hindalco Industries, through Birla Copper, which has invested close to Rs 2,500 crore in Dahej in Gujarat so far, has lined up an additional investment of Rs 800 crore. The investment will be made in doubling the capacities of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and phosphoric acid units apart from constructing a new jetty. The company will also set up a captive power plant of 60 MW capacity.

The DAP fertiliser capacity will be more than doubled to 9 lakh tonnes per annum (LTPA) from the existing 4 LTPA. The capacity of the phosphoric acid plant will be doubled to 3.6 LTPA from 1.8 LTPA at present. The Dahej unit also produces copper cathodes and continuous cast copper rods.

“Birla Copper has approached the state government with a project to double the capacity of its captive jetty from five million tonnes a year to 10 million tonnes a year by constructing a new jetty at Dahej,” sources in the state government said. The company needs more jetty capacity to import more raw material for its expanded capacity. “An MoU regarding the four projects will be signed during the Vibrant Gujarat this year,” sources said.