Aditya Birla Group flagship company Hindalco has drawn-up a Rs.21,000-crore capital expenditure plan for the next two years even as its promoters are looking at increasing their stake in the company in the current fiscal, company Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said here on Friday.
“We plan to invest Rs.10,000-crore in 2010-11 and Rs.11,000-crore in 2011-12 on account of our ongoing expansion programme, which should be commissioned between 2012 and 2014,” Hindalco Chairman Mr. Birla told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting here.
The promoters now hold a 36 per cent stake in the company. “We as promoters are constantly looking to increase our holding in this fiscal,” Mr. Birla said, without divulging the percentage of the stake hike.
Elaborating on the expansion plans of its greenfield projects, Mr. Birla said the company planned to invest Rs.9,200 crore in its Mahan aluminium project in Madhya Pradesh, which would have a capacity of 3.60 lakh tonnes annually of aluminium metal, along with a 900-MW captive power plant.
Hindalco is also setting up the Rs.9,200-crore Aditya aluminium project with a capacity of 3.60 lakh tonnes annually of aluminium metal. Its Utkal alumina project, costing Rs.7,000-crore, would produce 1.5-million alumina to start with, which could be increased to 3 million tonnes in the future. The equity requirement for the Utkal project had been tied-up as well, he said.
“The timely execution of greenfield projects would enhance our cost competitiveness and give Hindalco a distinct global competitive edge,'' he added.
Commenting on the performance of Novelis, Mr. Birla said, the company had witnessed a remarkable turnaround in the midst of extremely challenging circumstances.
Its liquidity surpassed the $1-billion mark on the back of a strong operational cash flow, the bond issuance and increased gross borrowing. — PTI
