Welspun Gujarat bags export orders worth $97 million

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, Nov 27: Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd (WGSR), the Rs 256.37 crore pipe division of the Welspun Group has bagged orders worth around Rs 450 crore equivalent to $97 million from Egypt, Iran and Iraq. The company has bid for projects worth Rs 2,000 crore internationally in various countries like USA, China, Malaysia, Egypt, Columbia, Turkey and Algeria.

In an effort to increase its presence in the domestic market, Welspun has bid for various pipeline projects across India, which include Salaya Mathura Pipeline and Viramgam Siddhapur Pipe line. The company has also embarked on debottlenecking its production capacity from 1,000 km to 1,500 km for which the company plans to invest around Rs 15 crore.

Welspun has negotiated 100 km (80,000 million tonne) of 56 inches X-70 grade line pipes with thickness ranging from 19-38mm from MJF & National Iranian Gas Co (NIGC) valued at Rs 242 crore. This is the first phase of 750 km IGAT - IV Project for which the second phase tendering process is already on and the company has also bid for the same. The company has also received an order of 60 km from the same client for different variety of pipe.

According to WGSR vice-chairman BK Goenka, “Welspun is the only Indian company to have been selected for such a large diameter pipes for its technology and capacity against only two established global players. Within a short span of time our company has emerged as a major player in large diametre pipe manufacturer and expediting our efforts in becoming a major global player.”

The company has also received orders for 135 km pipe from Iraq amounting around $27 million and 46 km pipe from Egypt amounts to around $9.5 million.

Welspun’s aggressive effort on the international market has been paying rich dividends in the last six months. The company has achieved a turnover of Rs 159.86 crore in the first six months with a net profit of Rs 5.72 crore.

With large number of orders from refineries, oil and gas companies in domestic and international markets, the company hopes to achieve a turnover of around Rs 500 crore for 2001-02, and around Rs 1,000 crore within next two years time.