Sterlite Optical invests $300 m in greenfield project

MUMBAI, DEC. 14. Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd. is to set up a 10 million fibre kilometre (fkm) greenfield project in the country with an investment of around $300 million.

``We are also going to shift our corporate base to either New York or Atlanta in the U.S. in order to make our presence felt as a global player in the fibre optic industry,'' the Chairman and Managing Director of SOTL, Mr. Anil Agarwal, told reporters here today.

SOTL's decision to migrate the top brass abroad is taken in the wake of the fact that post demerger of Sterlite Industries a few months ago, 90 per cent of revenue came from its exports to world over.

The company is negotiating with the State Government for a tax- free environment to set up their two-phased export oriented plant in the country, which would commence commercial production by early 2002, he said.

The new plant would be funded by internal accruals along with some outside borrowing in a ratio of around 75:25, the CMD said.

``Our exports have reached a whopping Rs. 3,000 crores this year,'' Mr. Ashok Panjwani, director (telecom), said.

``The fibre optic demand has increased from 60 million fkm to 240 million km in last few years and therefore we want to make a favourable impact at the global level,'' Mr. Agarwal added.

The company was also planning to get listed overseas, as it would help establish itself as a global player, Mr. Agarwal said. ``The option to either list on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq is open for us,'' he said.

He said the company did not need any more capital even for American depository receipts and has already projected a turnover of $300 million for this fiscal.

Mr. Agarwal said, after settling itself in the U.S., SOTL would also look for acquiring small companies with cutting edge technologies in the U.S. market. The company spends 12 per cent of its total revenue on R&D roughly amounting to $25 million.

``We are also planning to foray into the photonics industry and may acquire a company in this regard. An international consultant has been roped in to study the viability of the acquisition,'' Mr. Panjwani said.

Mr. Agarwal said SOTL aimed to be one among top five players in the global fibre optic industry, the others being the U.S.-based Corning USA, Alcatel, Lucent Technologies, Japanese firm Sumitomo and Italian major Perelli.

- PTI

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