New Delhi: India's diversified business conglomerate Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd plans to invest Rs 6.5 billion towards capital expenditure in the current fiscal 2012-13, Chief Financial Officer Sushil Agarwal said.
The company intends to utilize a major part of its planned capital expenditure to source new technology for its rayon business and establish a new caustic soda unit at Patalganga near Mumbai, where the company already operates carbon black plants, he said Tuesday.
"Rs 270 crore (Rs 2.7 billion) will go in the rayon business, where we are going to get spool technology from Germany. We are also contemplating raising caustic soda capacity, for which we will need Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) and Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) for de-bottlenecking and energy saving schemes in agri business."
The company is seeking an approval from the Maharashtra government for the proposed caustic soda plant, which is expected to be completed by end of current fiscal.
Aditya Birla Nuvo's fiscal fourth quarter (January-March) consolidated net profit fell 42% on-year to Rs 1.7 billion, due to a rise in depreciation and interest costs on the third generation (3G) investments in its telecommunication business.
In the quarter, the company also reported a loss of Rs 1.04 billion on account of provisions towards entry tax liability.
Aditya Birla Nuvo last month signed a deal with India's largest retail chain Pantaloon Retail India Ltd to acquire its branded apparel business for Rs 8 billion.
Shares of Aditya Birla Nuvo closed at Rs 756, down 6.35%, on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.
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