| (Press
Release, January 12, 2004)
January
13th 2004 : Gujarat NRE Coke is increasing its capacity by
setting up a green-field project for the manufacture of the
LAM Coke in Kandla, Gujarat. This project, which will start
adding to NRE�s production gradually from this FY itself,
will be the second NRE plant in Gujarat and will help the
company more than double its production capacity from 3.97
lakh MT per annum to 7.21 lakh MT per annum.
Located near the port of Kandla, in Gujarat, the second plant
will not only reap the advantages of a favorable location,
but will also open up the hungry North Indian market to the
company�s products because of its excellent rail / road connectivity.
This plant too will utilize imported coal from Australia to
make coke of the finest quality, known for their low ash content
and high calorific value.
The second NRE plant could not have come at a better time.
Good quality coke is today a product in global short supply
and the prices have been extremely manufacturer friendly.
In India too, the demand has been steady and the prices firm.
What is more, considering China�s insatiable demand for more
and the global shift to steel making facilities from the developed
to the developing and the less developed countries, this demand
is expected, not only to sustain, but also grow in the near
future, auguring good times for the manufacturers.
With Vision 2020 - the Presidents avowed dream of making India
shrug off her shackles of lethargy to emerge an economic super
power by the year 2020AD, gathering momentum, Coke is becoming
a product that is increasingly in the limelight as a critical
raw material that will fuel India�s march into tomorrow. It
is an accepted fact that in order to keep our tryst with destiny,
with development, we will have to increase our production
and consumption of steel manifold. Something that can be achieved
only by firing a million furnaces, something that will require
colossal amount of coke to burn itself so that the collective
Indian head can be held high with proud contentment.
The production from the second plant, along with that of the
merged sister concern Aparna Projects will ensure that Gujarat
NRE Coke retains its supremacy as the largest manufacturer
of LAM Coke in the non captive sector in the country. A fact
that is a manna from heaven considering the current demand
supply scenario and the ruling prices in the market. However,
this is also a testimony of the management's foresight and
vision, a management that had initiated these expansion drives
at a time when the industry was reeling under the pressures
of dumping from foreign shores and the product was, literally
down in the dumps. "What is remarkable about these expansions�
says Sri Arun Kumar Jagatramka, Managing Director "is
the fact that they have been financed, entirely from internal
accruals" something that bears witness to the inherent
financial strength of the company and its stature in the particular
industry segment.
Gujarat NRE Coke, which has paid dividends and rewarded its
shareholders with bonus issues in the last two years is today
a bundle of efficiencies, thanks to some bold and effective
steps initiated by its management, lead from the front by
Sri Jagatramka, an all India CA topper. The company has retired
its high cost debts and has gone energy efficient with a vengeance.
It is in the process of generating electricity from the waste
heat emanating from its chimneys and has, to reduce stress
on fossil fuels, set up its own farm. The electricity thus
obtained have further reduced costs, making it a lean and
mean fighting machine, providing razor sharp figures. Its
all round effort to reduce wastes and keeping costs in a tight
reign has also added further padding to the bottom line, making
its financial results stand out and seek attention.
Gujarat NRE Coke incidentally, is the only listed company
in the industry segment. Last month, Dr. Basudeb Sen, former
CMD, IIBI and former ED, UTI along with Mr. Chinubhai Shah,
former MD of AEC joined the Board as non Executive Directors
to guide the company to greater heights.
For more information visit our website at : www.gujaratnrecoke.com
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