DCM Shriram Ltd, on Tuesday, announced that the company’s board of directors accorded an in-principle approval for the entry of its Chemicals business into the domain of “Advanced Materials” by investing into Epoxy and value added products. The company is planning to invest Rs 1000 crore over the next few years to set up a greenfield state-of-the-art epoxy manufacturing plant, it said in a regulatory filing.
It may be noted that the company’s Epichlorohydrin (ECH) plant in Jhagadia, Gujarat is in final stages of completion and is expected to be commissioned in Q1 of 2024-25. Over 80 per cent of ECH produced globally is used in the manufacture of Epoxy.
Ajay Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director and Vikram Shriram, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, of DCM Shriram Ltd, said, “We are bullish about the overall prospects of the Chemicals Business and this entry into the Advanced Materials space. We already have some of the key raw materials like ECH and caustic in our portfolio which paves a logical way forward into the epoxy and value added products.”
“The entire portfolio of Advanced Materials products including liquid epoxy resins, hardeners, solvent cuts, reactive diluents and formulated resins are finding increasing applications in sectors such as wind-blades, EVs, aeronautics, electronics, fire-proofing and light-weighting industries and India is poised to emerge as a market of choice, both for domestic and global consumption, of such products,” they added. “DCM Shriram Ltd will continue to remain alert to opportunities arising in the adjacencies of its core-chemicals business and look to participate whole-heartedly in the India growth story.”
DCM Shriram Ltd is a diversified Indian conglomerate whose business portfolio spans across multiple sectors including Agri-business – Urea, Sugar, Ethanol, Farm Solution Business covering the entire range of inputs, R&D based Hybrid Seeds. Chlor-Vinyl Business – Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Aluminum Chloride, Calcium Carbide, PVC Resins, PVC Compounds, Power and Cement. And Value Added Business Fenesta Building Systems makes UPVC and Aluminium Windows & Doors. Chemicals is one of the company’s largest businesses and is expected to continue as one of the key growth drivers for the company, it said.
Furthermore, the company board of directors have inter-alia declared an interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24 on the paid-up equity share capital of the company, at 200 per cent (Rs 4 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 each). The record date fixed for the purpose of the said interim dividend shall be March 6, 2024.