Jupiter Wagons to reopen Stone India in six months, ramp up wagon capacity

Jupiter Wagons Ltd (JWL) will reopen city-based engineering firm Stone India within the next six months after carrying out a modernisation programme at a capex of Rs 25-30 crore, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

The maker of wagon and its components will also ramp up its capacity by at least 30 per cent in brownfield expansions at its two existing facilities in India.

On Monday, JWL concluded raising Rs 125 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) and the money will be utilised in funding the acquisition of Stone India, modernisation and expansion of wagon-making capacity.

''We plan to make closed Stone India operational in the next six months. We will modernise the factory with a capex of Rs 25-30 crore to make it a cost-efficient producer of railway freight car braking systems and electric pantographs. This renovated plant will generate employment for 100 people,'' JWL Managing Director Vivek Lohia told PTI.

Stone India which has a factory at Taratala in south Kolkata, was part of the erstwhile Duncans Goenka group company.

JWL took over Stone India last year for about Rs 25 crore in a corporate insolvency resolution process by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The plant is closed for the last 5-6 years and the company was engaged in producing braking and engineering systems for Railways.

Lohia said Stone India will be delisted from bourses. Trading is currently suspended.

The QIP issue at Rs 104.75 a share got an overwhelming response from investors like Tata Mutual Fund, Ananta Capital, and ITI Mutual Fund, the official said.

Lohia said Stone India will strengthen its offerings for the railways with braking systems for freight cars and electric pantographs among other engineering products.

''Currently, we annually procure freight wagon braking systems at a cost of Rs 300-400 crore. We will manufacture these braking systems in Stone India,'' Lohia said.

He stated that the company was expecting another major order for wagons in the next 3-4 months from the government and to be geared for the same, it will ramp up its annual wagon-making capacity to 700 units a year from 500-550 now.

''We have a combined wagon manufacturing capacity of 500-550 wagons at Bandel in West Bengal and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. We will ramp up capacities in both facilities using the funds raised,'' Lohia said.

Jupiter Wagons, which recently forayed into the electric truck space, is expected to roll out its first light commercial vehicle (LCV) of one-tonne capacity in December this year.

''We will begin with one-tonne load LCV but in due course, we will roll out models with up to 4-tonne cargo load trucks,'' he said.

JWL closed the day at Rs 118.75 per share gaining 2.68 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)