The Grenzebach Group will invest €2 million in a manufacturing facility for glass and building materials at its site in Pune, India.

The current sales and service branch will be merged with the manufacturing site for the glass and gypsum industry at the Pune location.

The site is scheduled to open in the fall of 2023, with production beginning in October.

The facility will be used for the assembly of conveyor equipment and welding work for annealing lehrs for the glass industry, and dryers for the building materials industry.

Prasanna Hegde (photographed above), Managing Director at Grenzebach India, said: “The expansion, complementing our plant in Jiashan, China, will enable us to serve our glass and building materials customers in the Eastern Hemisphere even better - with equipment and machinery to German standards, in high quality, at local cost levels."

In the course of the expansion, the company will create approximately 30 jobs in the first phase.

Dr Steven Althaus, CEO of the Grenzebach Group, said: "We firmly believe in the Indian market and expect enormous potential for growth within the next five years.”

The company expects sales potential for the glass and building materials sector of €3 million in the first two years, increasing subsequently.

The initial investment costs should be amortised quickly according to projections by the Grenzebach Group.

Further investments like the purchase of the company premises and subsequent rebuilding measures to meet sustainability and energy efficiency requirements are already planned.

The decision to invest in India coincides with the positive development of the market and the increased demand for glass products such as float and structural glass.

The Indian government's sustainability agenda is creating strong demand for solar glass for the manufacture of photovoltaic modules.

Markus Gruber, Senior Vice President Business Unit Glass at Grenzebach, said: “Our location in India will enable us to support our Indian customers even better. It will also allow us to be closer to them in terms of service and order processing.

“In recent years, we have already worked successfully with our Indian customers and would like to strengthen this co-operation further with the new infrastructure."

The premises, with 4,500 m2 of floor space, is located in the Chakan Industrial Area, Pune District, about 30 km from Pune city centre.

It will include a modern production unit and office space for sales, design, software development, and service.