Nagpur-based Confidence Group is foraying into the alternate fuel space in a big way and targets Rs 10,000 crore revenue milestone by March 2026. It is also looking to increase its footprint in terms of expanding CNG fuelling stations and providing EV charging facilities. Recently, the company also unveiled a type-4 cylinder, claimed to be a safer and more efficient option for transportation and storage of gaseous fuel.
It claims that the need for higher quality cylinders will be driven by the government of India’s ambitious push towards gaseous fuels – hydrogen, CNG, H-CNG and LNG among others. Nitin Khara, Chairman & MD, Confidence Group told Financial Express Online, that the company is looking to invest around Rs 350 crore in the next 2-3 years towards setting up of the manufacturing facility and production.
“We have already acquired around 1.4 lakh sqft of land in Nagpur and placed the order for German machineries to manufacture type 4 cylinders in India,” he reveals.
The company is already a key LPG & CNG cylinder maker and will enter the green hydrogen type-4 cylinder manufacturing under Silversky Exim, a subsidiary of Confidence Futuristic Energetech.
The storage cylinders while new to the Indian market are claimed to have been use in developed parts of the world for quite a few years. Confidence Group on its part has upgraded it to be used for – Bio-CNG, hydrogen-enriched CNG as well as hydrogen across 350-700-bars. The cylinders will undergo 22 tests to be checked for safety.
This the company says will benefit in two ways for the automotive industry. Firstly, the tankers that carry the gaseous fuels with the existing steel cylinders can only carry 600kg of gas but using the type 4 cylinders which are lighter the same platform can accommodate more cylinders. This it says can carry more gas. Similarly, in a CNG vehicle, for instance, a C-SUV or buses/trucks would be able to fit 2 cylinders instead of one (after ARAI and other RTO approvals).
L-R: Dimitri Kulianov, Technical Advisor, Confidence Group; Nitin Khara, Chairman and MD, Confidence Group; Joy Bhattacharjee, Technical Advisor, Confidence Group and Manish Jain.
“Using an over cylinder on CNG trucks/buses, the average range of these buses can be increased from 250km to around 650km.”
Confidence Group believes that while the government on its part has been expanding the CNG pipeline infrastructure, it still will require the gaseous fuels to be transported in tier 2-3 towns. It is very difficult to connect every nook and corner of the country through the pipeline in the short-to-medium term.
Growing automotive business
The company already counts the likes of Tata Motors, TVS Motor Co, Piaggio, Eicher Trucks & Buses and Hyundai Motor CO amongst its customers in the automotive space. Khara is confident that with the new type 4 cylinder it will further be able to make inroads with more automakers and models.
He says with the automakers be able to higher efficiency given the fact the lightweight and safety properties of the cylinders the customers will see higher acceptance and demand.
“One of the drawbacks of the metal cylinders is their weight. With the type 4 cylinder, the weight can be slashed by almost 1/3. This means that the vehicle will now be able to offer a higher range in CNG vehicles,” says Khara.
The CNG/LPG cylinder product portfolio already contributes around 12-15 percent of the company’s topline. With the new product, it expects 10-15 percent of additional growth.
Confidence Group is also looking to expand its CNG fuel stations from the existing 35 in Bengaluru to 300 CNG fuelling stations across India. Then there are also plans to set up EV showrooms (through franchises) and charging stations at its fuel stations as part of its diversification strategy.
Targetting Rs 10,000 crore revenue by March 2026
It was in 2019, that the Confidence Group had set an ambitious target for itself to touch revenue of Rs 10,000 crore. For FY2023, the company reached revenue of Rs 2,048 crore from Rs 1,277 crore a year ago.
He expects the revenue to touch Rs 3,600 crore revenue this year.
“By March 2026, we will achieve the Rs 10,000 crore milestone. We are going to make a very massive announcement soon, which will reveal our future game plan,” concludes Khara.
