Raghav Productivity Enhancers, which is establishing a greenfield silica ramming mass plant in Odisha through a joint venture with Japan’s TRL Kosaki, expects its market share in India’s organised sector to double to around 30 per cent after this plant is commissioned next year.
The partnership provides Jaipur-based Raghav Productivity, the world’s largest manufacturer of silica ramming mass, exclusive access to TRL Kosaki’s quartzite mines in Odisha. TRL Kosaki is a step-down subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corporation.
While the new plant will help the company significantly reduce freight costs for its products used in induction furnace-based steel plants in the eastern part of the country, the facility will also help it target Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Far East countries for exports, Raghav Productivity Enhancers Chairman Sanjay Kabra told businessline.
“We expect that our Odisha plant to be commissioned about one year’s time from now. This plant is expected to run at full capacity within two-and-half years after commissioning. India’s silica ramming mass market remains very unorganised. There are several local players who are supplying this product to several steel plants in the region. We are having a 15 per cent market share right now in the organised sector. And, once this plant is set up, we expect that market share to go from to 30 per cent,” Kabra said.
The greenfield plant, to be set up with an investment of around ₹100 crore, will have a 350,000 metric tonne per annum (MTPA) capacity.
The company currently has two plants in Jaipur with a total capacity of around 534,000 MTPA. It has presence across 26 states in India and exports to over 40 countries.
“Currently, we are supplying to the Eastern states from Jaipur. So, freight cost plays a very significant role. Almost 50 per cent of our cost is freight cost when we are supplying from Jaipur to the Eastern part of India. But when we have the plant in Odisha, then the freight cost will come down. Around 45 per cent of India’s furnaces are in the Eastern part itself,” Kabra said.
Raghav Productivity is pursuing a multi-location manufacturing strategy to move closer to major demand clusters and reach a total production capacity of 1 MTPA. “We are confident that our multi-location strategy of getting our capacity to over 1 million tonne will be a reality soon,” the Chairman added.
The company is currently in advanced R&D stages for high purity quartz crucibles specifically designed for use in semiconductor manufacturing supply chains.