Jaquar to invest Rs 325 cr in manufacturing

Homegrown bathroom solutions giant Jaquar is looking to invest around Rs 325 crore over the next couple of years, in strengthening its manufacturing capabilities in the country, even as it acquired a state-of-the-art plant for Rs 100 crore.

Recently, Jaquar Group took over a Bhachau, Kutch-based manufacturing plant of Euro Ceramics in a Rs 100-crore deal. The plant, spread over 17 acres, will take the group’s manufacturing to over 248,000 sq metres, spread over five plants in India, and one facility in South Korea.

Talking to DH about the company’s vision, Jaquar Group Promoter and Director Rajesh Mehra said, “We are aiming at a group turnover of Rs 3,500 crore this year, with the sanitaryware business touching around Rs 500 crore during the period. We’ve already achieved Rs 350 crore in revenues this year from our sanitaryware business.”

The company, which had been outsourcing its sanitaryware production, had recently embarked on establishing its own means for manufacturing products. Meanwhile, the said plant was already working as an OEM for Jaquar, and presented as an apt opportunity to the latter, which was able to derive greater convenience and flexibility to develop its own products, without dependency over others.

“The current capacity of the plant is 1.2 million units a year, and our plan is to enhance it to 1.8 million units,” Mehra said, adding that the facility will manufacture a range of the Jaquar brand of sanitaryware for both the domestic and export markets. Also, the 400 staffers currently employed at the plant have been integrated into the group.

Meanwhile, Jaquar has drawn up extensive plans to grow this facility. “We’re looking at another Rs 90 crore to revamp the whole facility, bringing in more machines, equipment and technologies,” he said.

Besides, the group is in the process of adding some extra elements to its existing faucet manufacturing facility in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, at an estimated cost of 125 crore. “As part of our lighting business also, lately, we’ve enhanced our manufacturing capacity. We intend to establish a full-fledged facility to produce lighting fixtures, wherein over the next 12 months, we will be investing around Rs 100 crore. In all, we are eyeing around Rs 325 crore in investment, which will be served through internal accruals,” Mehra concluded.