Hindustan National Glass & Industries Ltd (HNG), India's leading container glass manufacturer, with a 65% market share & which entered the float glass segment in Jan/2010 with its plant at Halol near Vadodara, is reportedly aiming at doubling its production capacity with the addition of another 800/tpd line in the near future. The company aims at having a 25% share of all India float glass production within the next two years. The Halol 600/tpd float glass plant, which became operational in January 2010, was set up with an investment of INR 600 crore. "We have kept provision to add another 800 tpd line at the plant. Currently, we have started one furnace, but would work on the second line soon depending on market demand," informed Mukul Somany, joint managing director of HNGIL. "The float glass industry has seen explosive growth in the last three months, growing at around 20%, buoyed by demand for both architectural and automotive glass. We will start automotive glass production at the Halol facility from April onwards, and for starters, nearly 20-25% of the net production would be for automotive glass," Somany explained.
