Travancore Cochin Chem Posts Rs. 32-crore Profit

Kerala government-owned Travancore Cochin Chemicals Ltd. (TCCL) has reported record profit of Rs. 32-crore in FY18 on a turnover of Rs. 241-crore.

Mr. K. Harikumar, the company’s Managing Director said it was a major achievement for a company, which was running on an accumulated loss of nearly Rs. 25-crore two years ago. The profit in FY17 was Rs. 6-crore.

He attributed the record performance to the cumulative effect of various factors, including maximising production, better marketing, and the availability of power at competitive rates. The benefit from open access to power was worth Rs. 1.5-crore last year and the company’s power requirement was around 4.8 lakh units daily.

Caustic soda expansion

Going forward, he said, the company has lined up several development plans with an investment of Rs. 50-crore. Caustic soda production will be increased from the present 175-tpd (tonnes per day) to 250-tpd in the first phase to be completed in 18 months. In the second phase, the capacity will be increased to 350-tpd. With the completion of the capacity expansion, the turnover is expected to touch Rs. 600-crore.

For the first time, TCCL has started exporting caustic soda to African countries and has earned export revenues of Rs. 2.4 crore.

There are also plans to earmark Rs. 10-crore for steam recovery from the hydro-chloric acid plant, which will make the production process more efficient and cost-effective as furnace oil use will come down considerably, informed Mr. Harikumar.