Indian joint venture to add glass fibre knitting

Owens Corning is to add glass fibre knitting capability at the Taloja, India, plant of Owens Corning India, a joint venture between Owens Corning, USA and Mahindra and Mahindra, India.

Owens Corning is to add glass fibre knitting capability at the Taloja, India, plant of Owens Corning India, a joint venture between Owens Corning, USA and Mahindra and Mahindra, India.

The investment adds fabric knitting to the plant's existing glass roving operations, to supply growing market demand in India and surrounding regions, especially for the wind energy market.

India is currently the fifth largest country in the world in terms of installed capacity of windmills.

"This investment is another step in demonstrating our commitment to the growth of the composites industry as well as the fabrics market, by expanding our ability to make and distribute all facets of fabrics on both a local and worldwide basis", said Jeff Boersma, Vice President and General Manager of Owens Corning's Fabrics Business.

"As the global leader in the composites industry", added Owens Corning Composites Business President Chuck Dana, "this investment is a testament to OC's purpose of delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives".

"And, it demonstrates our commitment to our customers' success and their bright future by investing locally in the markets where they do business to offer tailored, low-cost manufacturing platforms".

Satish Kulkarni, Managing Director for Owens Corning India, added that the investment is key for India on a number of fronts.

"Our expanded capacity at Taloja will benefit India in terms of economic development and energy conservation - especially with our country's current energy situation and the need for continued growth of alternative energy sources like wind energy", said Kulkarni.

"Increasingly, composites solutions are helping transform the lives of people - especially in India, by offering environmentally friendly cost effective solutions to some of the basic issues like providing clean drinking water, electricity etc".

Owens Corning India, a four time export award winner from Capexil and a leading foreign exchange earner, specialises in the manufacture of glass fibre reinforcements, which have a wide range of applications (over 4000).

Products produced at the plant are made from Advantex glass fibre, a boron-free E-glass with significantly improved corrosion resistance over traditional E-glass - key in the wind energy market and its many offshore installations.

The Taloja plant has remained 100% accident free for last three years, making it a benchmark for OC globally and, with advanced environmental systems and processes, is able to operate without a landfill.

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