Uflex to invest Rs 850 cr to set up new greenfield plant in Karnataka

Packaging materials and solution company Uflex Ltd plans to set up a new greenfield plant in Karnataka with an investment of Rs 850 crore.

The Noida-headquartered firm has also announced brownfield investment of $15 million (approx Rs 109.17 cr) to add capacity at its step-down subsidiary, Flex Middle East FZE, Dubai.

The board of the company on Thursday has "considered and approved the proposed expansion of packaging films in South India," Uflex said in a regulatory filing.

The new plant with a capacity to produce packaging films of 63,000 tons per annum (TPA), would help Uflex to meet additional demand, it added.

The greenfield plant is expected to be completed by March 2023, it added.

"The new lines to be added in South India will have a cumulative production capacity of 63,000 TPA. The UAE plant that currently houses a BOPET line with capacity of 22,000 TPA will have an additional capacity of 18,000 TPA once the CPP line is commissioned," said Uflex.

On its UAE-based subsidiary, the company said Flex Middle East FZE has an existing capacity to produce 22,000 TPA of packaging films and the company is adding 18,000 TPA by investing USD 15 million (approx Rs 109.17 cr).

The investment on the UAE-based subsidiary will "broad base the products mix, better customers' reach, strengthen the market network and maximise the profitability," it said.

Uflex would add the proposed capacity by September 2022.

The packaging company on Thursday reported an 88.88 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 160.19 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, as against Rs 84.81 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

While its total income was up 17.19 per cent to Rs 2,111.09 crore in October-December. It was Rs 1,801.33 crore in the corresponding Q3/FY 2019-20.

Uflex has packaging facilities at multiple locations in India with an installed capacity of around 1,35,000 TPA and has packaging film manufacturing facilities in India, UAE, Mexico, Egypt, Poland, Russia, and USA with a cumulative capacity of 3,81,000 TPA.