Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore initially under Indo-Lanka FTA:

Alufab goes to India

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

Alufab PLC, among Sri Lanka’s frontline manufacturers of Aluminium facades, will soon establish a regional presence in the Indian Subcontinent, under the aegis of the Indo Lanka Free Trade Agreement.

“We are looking at Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai and we will be moving into those premium Indian market under the Indo-Lanka Free trade Agreement and spread to other Indian cities and all these developments will be seen within the current financial year,” Alufab Managing Director and CEO Bernie Dole told Daily News Business yesterday.

Alufab Managing Director Bernie Dole deliberating a point with Swedish Director Victor Press on the company’s entry into the Indian market. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

“The operational strategy which we would be operating would be getting the core components of the products from Fletcher Aluminium of New Zealand and other components such as from Europe, assemble in Sri Lanka and export it to India where the value addition in Sri Lanka would be over 60 percent,” Dole said.

There will be all round advantages to the Indian contractor cum importer who gets it at reduced duty rates by virtue of the conditions laid out by the Indo-Lanka FTA, while it is also price competitive for the New Zealand exporter to send the products here rather than export it directly to India, Dole explained Alufab has also seen the increased demand in the overall Sri Lankan market as well- both the North and the East as well as the rest of the country itself as a result of sustainable and durable peace.

The company’s Rs 305 million Rights Issue which was approved by the shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting held at the Kotugoda factory yesterday saw the Swiss Chairman Johann Claesson and other Swiss expatriate director Victor Press investing US $ 250,000 each while the market invested US$ 2 million.

The Rights Issue was to fund working capital of the company which will be used for the benefit of the expansion plans and the entry into overseas market-India and we will be able to raise the capital even at future dates as and when the need arises through the Chairman and the other expatriate Director, Dole said.

Dole also explained that the production capacity of the Kotugoda factory would be sufficient for the planned production even for the Indian market for the next three years and added that there was sufficient space in the two and a half acre factory premises even if the demands increased with the expanded local and overseas markets. However, if there was further space required, we could go to Hambantota.

We see very string growth potential both in Sri Lanka and overseas in the Indian market due to the effectiveness and the quality of the product where we will be putting the best components into the product,” Alufab’s Swedish Director Victor Press said.