Gloster to invest 630cr in Bengal, TS

Kolkata: City-based jute major Gloster Ltd led by Hemant Bangur will invest Rs 630 crore by 2023 in two greenfield jute mills - one in West Bengal and another in Telangana - which will help the company increase its revenue by over 150 per cent, a top official said on Sunday.

The Bangurs are optimistic about the environment-friendly fibre at a time when the jute production in the state is contracting and negligible or no modernisation drive was taken up by majority of the mills.

"We are bullish about the jute sector. We are expanding in Bengal with a new plant and work has begun. We have just signed an agreement with the Telangana government for another mill in the southern state," Gloster executive chairman Hemant Bangur told PTI.

The 90 tonne per day plant in West Bengal will come up close to their existing two units in Howrah district and will be operational by December 2022, while the Telangana plant will have a capacity of 120 tonne per day and it is expected to be on stream in 2023. Asked what attracted the company to invest in Telangana, Bangur said, "the state offered lucrative incentives, guaranteed market by way of buyback of the produce by the government for next 20 years and assurance to develop and promote jute farming for raw material.

"Telangana had attracted three new jute mills in the state which will have a combined investment of Rs 887 crore despite there being no jute mill and adequate raw fibre. There are a few jute mills in Andhra Pradesh. The state offered 100 per cent buyback of foodgrain packaging bags for the first seven years, 75 per cent for the next five years and 50 per cent for another eight years," he said. The state has assured us to bring at least 25000 acres under jute cultivation while water supply is also sufficient because of the dam on the Godavari river, Bangur said. "Our current annual revenue is Rs 500 crore and with the two plants on stream, the annual revenue will be Rs 1300 crore," he said. Gloster which had been planning to invest in Bangladesh is now going slow and will make its final decision once geo-political conditions will be more conducive. The company is engaged in manufacturing and exporting of all types of Jute and allied products, Woven & non-Woven jute geotextiles, Treated Fabric-RotProof, fire retardant, jute products for interior decoration and packaging of industrial and agricultural produce.