Gujarat Borosil Plans Rs. 235-crore Brownfield Expansion at Bharuch Facility

Even as the specialty glass-maker Gujarat Borosil Ltd. aims to double its capacity at Bharuch, the country’s only producer of solar glass, has raised concerns about an ‘unfair’ competition with subsidised imports.

Borosil, a brand of hi-tech glass that is used even in the freezing climate condition of Siachen, looks at the rapid growth in the solar glass segment, which, however, faces challenge from cheaper imports.

According to Mr. Pradeep Kheruka, Vice-Chairman, Gujarat Borosil, the company has an ambitious plans of brownfield expansions with an investment of Rs. 235-crore to double solar glass production capacity to 2.4-GW per annum.

“Rather than going for greenfield expansion, we decided to undertake brownfield expansion which will be done at 60 per cent of the cost of greenfield expansion. We plan to invest Rs. 235-crore and are evaluating various options and possibilities of source of funding. We are taking some debt, but we will also consider the most efficient way to raise the capital,” Mr. Kheruka told the Hindu BusinessLine.

Import scenario

Currently, India imports about 70% of its requirement of about 380-tpd (tonnes per day). Gujarat Borosil produces about 130-tpd, out of which 105-tpd is sold domestically, while about 25-tpd is exported. The import is about 275-tpd.

“The government is committed for solar power. Over 90 per cent of the benefit from this policy is accruing to the Chinese industry, which is strongly subsidised,” Mr. Kheruka added. “Indian manufacturers of solar components have no subsidy and for the last four years are continuing to appeal to the Government to obtain a level playing field.”

Solar glass potential

He further added that considering the growth of solar industry, solar glass has the highest potential for growth as compared to any other form of glass today.

Gujarat Borosil has achieved a landmark by making 2-mm fully tempered solar glass in the world. This new product enables the production of glass-to-glass modules, which are a quantum improvement over the existing modules available in the market. When such modules using bi-facial cells are installed on rooftops or on sand, the back of the module absorbs reflected light, thus, boosting power output by 30%.

For the solar panel making, if solar glass is used as the back sheet in a module, the failure rate plummets to about 1% from 10%.