Having improved its figures on the balance sheet the RPG Group company Philips Carbon Black is now ready to build capacities overseas. The group has been looking at China and may revive discussions with the Chinese government in this connection. Sanjeev Goenka was non-committal on whether it would be the acquisition of a carbon black manufacturing unit or setting up greenfield project but that this was a natural outcome after exploring possibilities of acquisitions in India. A previous Chinese venture of the group had fallen through due to various reasons and hence Sanjeev Goenka refused to commit on any figures by way of investments for this venture since it would depend on a lot of factors like location, etc. However, even though the earlier Chinese venture had fallen through the group had not given up. But then Sri Lanka did not augur well either for Philips Carbon even though the Goenka’s already have two tyre units in that country. Probably that’s the reason why the Goenka’s are looking again at expanding their production capacity. Sanjeev Goenka is also on a high as far as Philips Carbon Black is concerned. They have just completed an exercise to replace their high cost Rs 182 crore debt with dollar denominated borrowings. Also concluded is the restructuring of its high cost debt which carries a 14.4 per cent interest rate — all this in spite of inflation, increase in the cost of raw material and an increase in capacity. To add to this efficiency has been increased along with a reduction of costs and a downsizing of its task force. Another hot cuppa? The ever-so-nattily dressed vice-chairman of Tata Tea, R.K. Krishna Kumar is currently making hearts go aflutter in his home state, with his plans for growth. The mastermind behind the acquisition of Tetley has confirmed that the group will keep Tata Tetley as a joint venture company in India and not amalgamate it with its international business. The group will continue to service the Australian market from India and will now add a substantial 3 million kg of value-added tea to Tata Tetley’s bottomline, which will double the Tata Tetley business. The existing Rs 30 crore business of Tata Tetley expects to see a Rs 50 crore boost once the Australian business is tucked safely in its portfolio. We hear that the complete manufacturing operations of Tetley at Yara, Australia are being shut and transferred to the export oriented unit in Kochi. The Kochi unit will outsource the tea and market it after value-addition to the product. This unit is also supposed to be the most efficient and cost effective of all those owned by the group. This visionary seems hell-bent on taking Tata Tetley all the way to the top of the heap and making the faces in Kerala smile at the prospect of growth. (Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcherian@now-india.net.in)
