The board of Tata Chemicals Ltd. has approved a capital expenditure of ₹2,400 crore which would be deployed towards de-bottlenecking of Mithapur facility.
The investment would enhance the company’s soda ash capacity by about 1,50,000 MT, salt production by 4,00,000 MT and upgrade turbines for higher efficiency.
To grow its specialty business, Tata Chemicals is considering entry into the lithium-ion battery sector to develop cell chemistries to meet Indian applications. The firm recently entered into an MOU with CSIR – CECRI (Central Electrochemical Research Institute), Karaikudi to explore collaborative technology for scaling up of manufacturing cathode materials for lithium-ion cells.
R. Mukundan, managing director, Tata Chemicals, said, “With the intended expansion at Mithapur, we would substantially raise our manufacturing capacity of soda ash and edible salt by 20% and 40% respectively. This expansion will be achieved on energy from waste heat, solar and wind.”
“We are excited at the opportunities in the specialty business and are exploring a foray into lithium energy storage solutions. The market in India for these applications could be 40-60 GWh by 2025, and we are in discussions with multiple technology and equipment providers,” Mr. Mukundan said.
The company on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of ₹409 crore, up 17% from the same period last year on revenues of ₹2,961 crore, up 10% from the same period last year.
On a standalone basis, the company reported a net profit of ₹295 crore, up 109% from the same period last year on standalone income of ₹1,014 crore, up 23% from the same period last year.
As on September 30, 2018, the company’s consolidated net debt was ₹2,180 crore.
“We are pleased to share a good overall performance across all three businesses. India’s basic chemistry products business continues to register a robust performance, due to operational efficiencies, a robust product mix and better realisations. On the global front, adverse impact on North American operations was partially offset by better sales realisation,” Mr. Mukundan said.
