Date:22/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/22/stories/2006072203000200.htm

ITC plans Rs 15,000-cr investments

Our Bureau

Hotels, paper and paperboard, foods in focus

Kolkata, July 21

ITC Ltd has planned investments of Rs 15,000 crore across all businesses of the company within a time-frame of next five years. A large chunk of this, around Rs 5,000 crore, will go into ITC choupal-sagars (rural malls), and another Rs 700 crore towards building up the foods business in a big way. A foods unit in Bengal, in an area of 25 acres, is also planned.

Investment plans

The proposed investments are said to be part of a five-year rolling plan adopted by the company, and wherever necessary, can even be scaled up.

Unfolding his grand vision for the company, which has now seen 10 years of his stewardship as Chairman, Mr Y.C. Deveshwar, at a press conference here on Friday, said the plan was to invest heavily in new hotels, paper and paperboard and packaging businesses, ITC choupal-sagars and foods.

Budget hotels

The company has planned three new hotels in Bangalore (which will include a budget hotel), one in Chennai and one in Hyderabad. Not willing to give a clear break-up of the investments in the different business segments, he said "we are not limited by any financial capacity, as we are relatively debt-free, and the hotels segment itself could take up an amount of capital".

The super deluxe ITC Sonar Bangla hotel in city is also being expanded by adding a few 100 rooms, at an investment of around Rs 400 crore-500 crore.

Mr Deveshwar said investments are dictated not so much by capital availability, but availability of land in the right locations. He said land has been acquired in the heart of the city for one of the hotels in Bangalore.

Paper segment

In paper, large investments are planned on creation of new capacities for both coated and uncoated paper, expected to absorb upwards of Rs 1,000 crore. On the proposed Rs 2,500-crore Greenfield project in pulp and paper, he said talks were still on with three State Governments and no final decision has been taken yet.

On plans for West Bengal, for which ITC has already announced an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, Mr Deveshwar said some Rs 350 crore would be spent on completing the Kidderpore cigarette factory (with all facilities including that for in-house cut tobacco), by utilising the land adjacent to the factory.

Besides this, improved production facilities at the newly acquired Wimco factory in Bengal and at the specialty papers unit at Tribeni would be taken up. ITC also plans to create a value chain for the horticulture sector, including cash and carry outlets, cold chain for fruits and vegetables and a national logistics hub in Bengal.