Soon after the news of ITC ‘s Rs 4000-crore worth expansion plan and Henkel’s Rs 220-crore plant foundation being laid, the Indian packaging industry sees yet another giant, Uflex, announce its investment plan.

According to a company statement, the flexible packaging company will invest Rs 1800 crore (about USD 284 million) to grow its output and add new products as demand for packaging material rises in India amid changing retail patterns.
 
Of the entire investment, Rs 550 crore will be directed towards setting up a plant in Sanand, a city in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to make packaging materials for liquid products. The facility is expected to be operational by April 2017 and employ 800 people.
 
In his statement to a business daily, R K Jain, group president for corporate finance and account at Uflex, said, “The Gujarat factory will produce seven billion packs per year for liquid products such as energy drinks, milk and juices, and about 90 per cent of the output will be used for the domestic market.”
 
He further added, “As the packaging penetration is low at present, the industry will continue to see strong growth for at least the next 10 years.”
 
The company statement states Uflex plans to raise its capacity for making plastic film and other products from 425,000 tonnes to 575,000 tonnes by 2018.