Nov 13 2007
Sterlite Technologies Limited (formerly, Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd), India’s only global provider and integrated manufacturer of optical fiber today announced that it has decided to double its Optical Fiber annual manufacturing capacity to 12 Million-km from its current capacity of 6 Million-Km. This brownfield expansion at the Company’s existing facilities at Aurangabad, India is estimated to incur a CapEx of INR 140 Crores (US$ 35 Million) and commercial production is expected to commence by June 2009.
This state-of-the-art facility would be capable of manufacturing the Company’s existing range of Optical Fiber Products as well as have the intrinsic capability to manufacture products as per evolving international telecom standards that are being introduced to cater to high bandwidth applications required by global markets. Sterlite is in advanced stages of discussion with leading global manufacturing equipment and raw material suppliers to streamline its efforts towards the expansion project milestones.
Sterlite is a market leader in India and currently supplies over 45% of the country’s demand and over 4% of the global demand for Optical Fiber. In H1 2007-08, the Company’s export sales for its Optical Fibers accounted for about 55% of total revenues from sale of its Optical Fibers. The expanded capacity would primarily cater to the growing demand from the Indian market and also enable the Company to grow its global market share.
Says Dr Anand Agarwal, CEO & Director, “Over the past several business quarters we have achieved tremendous success in key high-demand markets in several geographies and have established a loyal customer base. With the strong outlook by the Indian & Global Optical Fiber Industry, we are poised to take our place within the Top 5 manufacturers in the world and we believe that this capacity expansion would give us the strategic advantage to capitalize on the available opportunities. “
Industry Opportunities Recent months have proven a revival in global demand for Optical fibers. As per CRU, UK, the global demand for Optical Fiber was 97.3 Million-km in Year 2006. This demand is close to that last seen in Year 2000, during the Telecom Boom. The industry anticipates in 2007 the global demand would be an all time high.
KMI Research, USA estimates a 9% CAGR in worldwide demand for Fiber Optic Cables from 2006 through 2012. Fiberto- the-Premise (FTTx) deployments would be a very significant contributor to this demand growth and sustenance. The Ministry of Communication has a target of connecting 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010 and has resolved to make broadband in India further affordable to enable subscribers enter the Information Superhighway. To make this happen, several leading incumbents have already announced network expansions and the demand from the Indian Optical Fiber Industry is estimated to experience a Y-o-Y growth of about 30% from 2007 through 2010.