HNG Group, the market leader in container glass industry today entered the float glass segment with the firing up of its first float furnace in Halol, Gujarat. Starting up with a production capacity of 600 tonnes per day, HNG Group has aggressive plans for this new business. HNG Float Glass Ltd aims to capture upto 25% market share in the next two years. For further upscaling, the plant has provision for a second float line which can support an additional 850 tonnes per day.
Signed at the Vibrant Gujarat meet in 2007, the plant has been completed in a record time of 22 months. The plant has been financed by its parent company HNGIL, International Finance Corp., a subsidiary of the World Bank and DEG, Germany with a debt equity ratio of 60:40
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Mukul Somany, Joint Managing Director, HNG said, “The HNG Group is on a high growth path through strategic diversifications. The HNG Group today has over five decades of manufacturing experience, expertise and excellence which has helped it become the undisputed leader in the container glass business with a 60% market share in India. Our foray into the float glass segment is to further expand our horizons in the glass industry. The first set of production is expected to be ready by the end of December 2009.”
He further added, “There is a huge expanding market for Float glass in the country resulting from the growing realty and auto sector. Also, the extremely low per capita consumption of only 0.7 kg in India as compared to average of 8-10 kgs of other developing economies, gives a tremendous potential for growth of this industry.” HNG Float intends to aggressively target all the medium of sales such as dealer network as well as institutional and shall manufacture products from the thickness of 2mm to 12mm.
To ensure best in class products and services, HNG Float has tied up with M/s Toledo Engineering Co. (TECO), USA for design, engineering, installation and commissioning of the Float glass Plant and has also joined hands with global players like CNUD (Belgium) and Bottero (Italy) for procuring essential equipments. At present, the plant will start with manufacturing Clear Float Glass and will also make available Tinted Glass in Grey, Bronze, Green, and Blue, Heat Reflective Glass (Soft Coat & Hard Coat), LowE Glass, Low Iron Solar Glass, Ultra Clear Glass and Automotive quality glass to the market.
About HNG group and HNG:
Hindusthan National Glass group, headquartered in Kolkata, was founded by Mr. C.K. Somany - a visionary entrepreneur in 1952. It is the parent company of Hindusthan National Glass and Industries Ltd. (HNGIL or HNG) which is the largest container glass manufacturers in India with a 60% plus market share and an annual income of more than Rs. 1500 crores, as recorded in FY 09. The other companies under the HNG wing are Glass Equipment (India) Ltd. (GEIL), Ceramic Decorators Ltd. (CDL), Somany Foam Limited (SFL) and Quality Minerals Ltd. (QML), AMCL Machinery Ltd, HNG Float Glass.
HNGIL, the flagship of HNG group was founded with the inauguration of India’s first fully automatic glass container manufacturing plant at Rishra, near Kolkata. Headquartered in Kolkata, HNG’s pan-India manufacturing operations are spread over six centres Rishra, Bahadurgarh, Rishikesh, Puducherry, Nashik and Neemrana and its products are available in more than 20 countries. The company possesses an operational capacity of 11 furnaces and 44 production lines with fully-automated IS machines, sourced from reputed global technology providers of glass industry from Europe and US.