Glass industry lines up Rs 7,000 cr

The industry, growing in double digits, will see a two-fold rise in investment as against the last 3-4 years on the back of increase in consumption, Mukul Somany, president, All India Glass Manufacturers Federation, said.



According to him, Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd (HNG) has earmarked Rs 1,500 crore for adding 1,000 tonne per day to its existing capacity of 3,000 tpd, over the next 12-18 months. For this, it would set up a new plant at Naidupeta in Andhra Pradesh and expand capacity of its Nasik plant.



City-based AGI Glaspac will also invest Rs 600 crore to double its capacity at its Bhongir plant here to 900 tpd by January 2012, company president Arun Kumar Dukkipati said.



The per capita glass consumption in India is 1.2 kg, compared with 8-9 kg in developed countries and 30-35 kg in the US.



The Indian glass industry is pegged at $2.7 billion. Glass consumption growth is expected in construction (9 per cent), automotive (19 per cent), consumer goods (10-12 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (12-15 per cent) sectors.



The flat glass market, at present, stands at 4,500 tpd and is growing at 16 per cent year-on-year while the container glass is at 7,000 tpd and contributes 55-60 per cent to the overall glass market. Other glass (lighting, bangles, beads) market is at 1,500 tpd.



Around 1.3 pounds waste is generated per person per day in India, whereas it is 4.6 pounds in the US. He said glass recycling was very high in developed countries at 70-80 per cent. In Denmark, 98 per cent of bottles are refillable and 98 per cent of those are returned to consumers. However, in India, only 40-45 per cent of the finished products comes for recycling and the rest goes for land filing.



"We aim to increase it to 60 per cent in the next five years by adopting intensive recycling efforts and reducing the cost of production,&" Somany said. Recycling saves 10-20 per cent energy, 30 per cent air pollution and improves furnace efficiency by 20 per cent.