Two foreign companies from UK and Japan recently laid the foundation stone for their new plants at Sri City which is spread over 5,000 acres of land in Nellore and Chittor districts of Andhra Pradesh.

On October 18, MMD (India) Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of the UK-based MMD Mining Machinery Developments Ltd, laid the foundation stone for its new production unit, marking the start of construction.

Ten days later, Unicharm India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unicharm Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer of health and hygiene products, started the construction work of its new plant.

MMD_ProjectsMonitorSri City Projects will execute the total construction of the MMD plant on 15 acres of land allotted to the company. Initially, MMD will invest around Rs.100 crore in this project and offer employment to 200 persons. The unit is expected to be commissioned by October 2014.

MMD designs and manufactures material processing equipment for use in various types of surface and underground mining operations worldwide. The company offers mineral sizers, heavy-duty apron plate feeders, caterpillar chains and rollers, and sizer stations. It serves aggregate, cement, coal, industrial minerals, metalliferrous, energy and oil, recycling, tunnelling, waste, ceramic, construction, diamond, and precious metals industries.

On the other hand, Unicharm will invest around Rs.250 crore, in phases, on its proposed factory at Sri City. Phase-I of the project is planned to be completed by July 2015. The phase of the project will offer jobs for around 400 persons.

“By 2020, Unicharm targets to have a total turnover of Rs.90,000 crore and in this direction we are expanding our business in India. We preferred to set up our plant in Sri City for various advantages. First and foremost, Sri City offers world-class infrastructure facilities. Its proximity to international air and sea ports will greatly facilitate our imports and exports. Availability of extensive land at Sri City is an additional advantage for expanding our plant in phases,” Yoshihiro Miyabayashi, Chairman and Managing Director, Unicharm Corporation, said.

Unicharm_ProjectsMonitorUnicharm Corporation, established in Tokyo in 1961, is one of the world’s leading companies in manufacture and distribution of baby care, feminine care and pet care products. In 2008, the Japanese company set up its local head office at Gurgaon, Haryana, and also a production facility at Majrakath in Rajasthan. Unicharm had already signed a lease agreement with Sri City for utilising 40 acres of land for its new production facility.

Over the past five years, about 90 companies including foreign entities have already set up their units in Sri City at an aggregate investment of Rs.10,000 crore. It offers the combined benefits of a special economic zone, free trade zone and industrial park. Sri City SEZ, which lies within the Sri City Industrial Zone, is the largest private sector multi-product SEZ in South India. Sri City is located along NH-5, about 55 km north of Chennai. It is well connected by rail and road and is in close proximity to three major ports and two international airports.

Ravindra Sannareddy, Managing Director, Sri City, said that the location and infrastructure of Sri City was well suited and met the demanding requirements of the industry. He also said that MMD was the fifth major industry from the UK to select Sri City as its business destination.


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