Murugappa group to invest Rs 2,000 cr

Chennai, May 16 (IANS) Industrial conglomerate Murugappa group will invest around Rs 2,000 crore including on a gas-based power plant in Russia, said a top group official on Wednesday.

"We will be investing Rs 2,000 crore spread over this fiscal and the next fiscal," M.M. Murugappan, Executive Chairman of the Rs 32,893 crore turnover group, told reporters.

He said the investment will be in the group's international and domestic operations in expanding capacities.

Elaborating further, Sridharan Rangarajan, President and Group CFO, said the investment will be in the group's international and domestic operations.

Rangarajan said the group was planning to set up a gas-based power plant in silicon carbide manufacturer Volzhsky Abrasive Works (VAW), Russia, and expanding the phosphoric acid production capacity of the fertilizer major Coromandel International Ltd at an outlay of Rs 350 crore.

The Murugappa group will also expand the production capacity of its engineering products - transmission chains and supplies to railways - and debottleneck some of its plants.

According to Rangarajan, the capacity of the gas fired power plant in Russia is yet to be finalised. "The funding of the investment will be from internal accruals."

According to Murugappan, around 10 per cent of the group's turnover is from exports and largely contributed by crop protection chemicals, ceramics, steel tubes and others.

Queried about the US sanctions against Russia and its impact on the group, Murugappan said some of the customers were impacted but VAW was not majorly affected.

He said the group had no plans to rename any of its-listed or unlisted companies with the word Murugappa.

He said each group company had a history behind it and their products have good brand equity.

Last fiscal the Murugappa group companies - listed and unlisted - together posted a turnover of Rs 32,893 crore, logging a growth of 13 per cent over the previous year's turnover.

The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITA) was Rs 4,663 crore, higher by 14 per cent over that of the previous fiscal.