Gujarat Foils to invest Rs 120 cr on expansion

MUMBAI: After acquiring a controlling 60 per cent stake in aluminium foils maker Gujarat Foils for Rs 33 crore, Topworth Group of Companies on Wednesday said promoters of the company will now invest Rs 60 crore in two phases for capacity expansion.

"Gujarat Foils, which enjoys 40 per cent share of the domestic aluminium foils market, will invest Rs 60 crore in the first phase to enhance its capacity to 7,000 tons per annum from 3,000 tonnes annually now," Topworth Group of Companies Chairman Abhay Lodha told media here.

"Work on the the first phase of capacity expansion has already been started and will be completed by August next year," he said.

Lodha said Gujarat Foils would go for another round of capital infusion by December 2009 and this time too the investment will be to the tune of Rs 60 crore which will mainly be used for backward integration. "In this phase, we will be putting up an aluminium rolling mill," he said.

Lodha said Gujarat Foils would take a Rs 43 crore loan from financial institutions to fund the investment and the remaining would come from internal accruals and contributions from promoters.

Topworth Group of Companies had acquired majority stake in Gujarat Foils from Pramod Jain and has already made an open offer to grab more stake in the company. As of now, Pramod Jain holds 20 per cent stake in the company and the rest is with the public. Gujarat Foils has its manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad on 50 acres of land.

Gujarat Foils had recorded a turnover of Rs 95 crore in the last fiscal.