Bajaj Hindusthan to raise Rs 730 cr

MUMBAI: An arm of Bajaj Hindusthan (BHL) — one of the world’s top three sugar manufacturers — will mop up Rs 730 crore through a Rs 230-crore preferential issue to BHL and another Rs 500 crore via issue of shares to outsiders through private placements or overseas equity issue.

This is part of a Rs 850-crore outlay aimed at expanding the company’s sugar capacity by 12.5 times to 40,000 tonnes crushed per day (TCD). The expansion also includes an industrial alcohol/ethanol manufacturing capacity of Rs 160 kilo litres per day.

The subsidiary — Pratappur Sugar & Industries (PSIL) — has also rechristened itself as Bajaj Hindustan Sugar & Industries. The key decisions on capital-raising were approved by shareholders in an extraordinary general meeting held on Monday.

Shareholders also okayed the raising of the ceiling on foreign institutional investors’ shareholding to 74% from 24%. They accepted a proposal to increase the company’s authorised capital to Rs 25 crore from Rs 6 crore and sub-divide the face value of its shares from Rs 10 per share to Re 1.

Khusagra Bajaj, chairman, PSIL, said: “PSIL will now be positioned as a value-added vehicle for growth by the Bajaj Hindusthan Group in India’s domestic sugar and ethanol business.” He added that the proposed infusion of Rs 230 crore in PSIL will be through the preferential issue of warrants to BHL.