JINDAL Cotex Limited is gearing up to inject Rs 138 crore in a new venture in Ludhiana. The new facility, which will be for cotton yarn, dyeing and garments, will have 50,400 spindles with a 6-tonnes-per-day dyeing unit and a 3,000-pieces-per-day garments manufacturing unit, will be developed in phases. The company has approached the Punjab government concessions for the project, which is to be located in Mandiala Kalan in Khanna in Ludhiana. According to the company’s MD, Sandeep Jindal, by September 2008, 28,000 spindles will be set up in the facility and 22,400 spindles will be added in the next four months. After this, the dyeing and garments manufacturing unit will come up, involving a total investment of Rs 138 crore which is proposed to be funded through internal accruals, an initial public offer (IPO) and debt. He said the new project was being set up over 20 acres and the entire project was expected to be completed by June 2009. Mr Jindal said the company was planning an IPO in May 2008 to raise Rs 40-50 crore for new investments. The company is seeking to enlarge its export base with 10-15% production projected to be earmarked for exports during the current fiscal. The company already exports to markets in South Korea, Bangladesh, Spain, Italy, Indonesia and Latin America. Having already achieved a turnover of Rs 50 crore so far in the current fiscal, Mr Jindal said the company would end 2007-08 with a turnover of nearly Rs 100 crore. “We hope to be a Rs 400 crore group by the end of 2009-10,” he indicated. It had a turnover of Rs 75 crore in 2006-07, He said the company was also contemplating investing another Rs 150 crore in further expansion of its garmenting unit from 3,000 pieces per day to 30,000 pieces per day in the next phase of expansion, which would also involve setting up a knitting, weaving and a processing facility. However, plans for this are yet to be finalised. Jindal Cotex manager, finance, Ashish Jain said the company currently had export orders worth $1 million and recently, it had exported a consignment to the European Union. “For us, the peak season is December-February. Hence, major sales will be during this period,” he added