Century Ply's largest intergrated wood panel plant opened in AP

Kolkata: Century Plyboards (India) Ltd on Saturday inaugurated India's largest integrated wood panel manufacturing plant at Badvel in Andhra Pradesh.

Spread across 100 acres, the plant will have a total investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the second phase and is expected to generate direct and indirect employment for 2,000 people over the next 5 years, the country's largest manufacturer of wood panels said in a statement.

The first phase saw an investment of Rs 950 crore.

The plant was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the presence of CenturyPly Chairman Sajjan Bhajanka and other senior officials.

"YSR Kadapa district holds an important place on the industrial map of Andhra Pradesh for its valuable repository of resources.

"As the government has earmarked this region as a potential agro-industry hub, this initiative of CenturyPly marks the beginning of a series of investments of other industrial entities that will follow, leading eventually to making it a significant hub of furniture for the entire country," Bhajanka said in the statement.

The plant comprises two large-size laminate presses, which are already operational. The MDF (Medium Density Fibre) and PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) units are in the advanced stages of commissioning.

"We have invested Rs 700 crore in MDF and Rs 250 crore in laminates and PVC in the first phase. The new unit will increase our production capacity in MDF by a 950-meter cube, which will double our footprint in this segment. The second phase will see an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in expansion plans," Bhajanka said.

The Andhra Pradesh government has also expressed its commitment to supporting the growth of the wood panel industry in the state.

The Kolkata-based company also has 8,55,000 laminate sheets, 3,13,500 CBM in MDF and 15,000 tonne in PVC at the Andhra Pradesh site.