India’s first aluminium can factory launched

Can Pack, a Polish company, has opened a can producing factory at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. This is the largest Polish investment in India in recent years.

The value of the investment in Aurangabad is estimated at $200 million. The plant, which is to initially produce 650 million beverage cans, was built in a record time of 10 months. The production capacity is to be increased to 1 billion items per year. This is the first plant in India manufacturing aluminium cans.

The country is going to be the main sales market, but the company may also sell Aurangabad-produced cans in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The company would be manufacturing the cans through its fully owned subsidiary Can Pack India Pvt Ltd. Depending on the market the can manufacturing capacity could be scaled up to 2 billion cans per year.

Aluminium for the plant would be sourced from Novelis, South Korea. Hindalco acquired Novelis for $ 5.95 billion on February 2007.

By setting up the manufacturing plant in India the company would have significant savings in terms of custom duty and other local duties. On certain types of cans the company could save up to $8 on every 1,000 cans.

In the first phase the plant employed about 170 highly skilled workers and 300 in the second phase. The plant will also generate indirect employment in areas like can recycling.

The company also planned to supply cans to Dubai market from the Aurangabad facility. Global beverage majors like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Heineken already have tie-ups with the company for the cans.