As part of its growth strategy SRF in the recent past has acquired two foreign entities, one in Thailand, and the other one in South Africa.

1. Thai Baroda Industries Ltd, Thailand - SRF acquired this plant, a manufacturer of tyre cord in 2008. After acquisition the unit has been renamed SRF Technical Textiles (Thailand) Ltd. With this acquisition, SRF's world ranking improved from 3rd to 2nd in the production of Nylon 6 tyre cord.

2. Industex Technical Textiles (Pty) Ltd, South Africa - SRF acquired this unit, a manufacturer of belting fabrics, in 2008. After acquisition he unit has been renamed SRF Industex Belting (Pty) Ltd. With this acquisition, SRF's world ranking improved from 3rd to 2nd in the production of Nylon 6 tyre cord.

SRF implemented several projects in the recent past as a part of its ongoing effort to achieve global leadership in most of its businesses. Apart from the Polyester Industrial Yarn plant, the Laminated Fabrics plant and the second line of BOPET Film, the company also saw the commissioning of dipping facilities for tyrecord fabrics with a capacity of 11,500 tonnes per annum and a Fluorospecialties facility with a capacity of 600 tonnes per annum during 2009-10.

Polyester Industrial Yarn plant - SRF recently forayed into the polyester tyre cord fabric of capacity 14,500 tonnes per annum (tpa), making SRF the first and only producer in India. With its entry into the new product, SRF will soon be entering two new areas - tyre cord fabric for radial tires and the reinforcement cords for V-Belts. This project also offers SRF the capability to manufacture High Modulus Low Shrinkage (HMLS) polyester yarn and an assortment of high tenacity and low shrinkage yarns for various industrial applications. SRF has now become, one of the very few companies in Asia, offering multiple technical textile reinforcements products. In fact, SRF has now become a one stop shop for reinforcement fabric to the tyre companies in India since it will be able to cover the full spectrum of tyre cords from nylon-6 to polyester.

Laminated Fabrics project - The project that was commissioned at Kashipur in India during 2009-10 has a capacity of 48 million square metre per annum. In technical parlance, these laminated fabrics are a combination of a base fabric (polyester in our case) laminated with a film (PVC) either on one side or both sides. The project has enabled SRF to complement its fabrics product portfolio with laminated fabrics used largely for applications such as flex banners, signages etc. The project also helps at de-risking the company's Technical Textiles Business (TTB) by reducing its dependence on tyre cord fabrics.

BOPET Line II - SRF commissioned a second bi-axially oriented polyester (BOPET) line of 27,000 MT for the manufacture of PET films during 2009-10. With this, the company has nearly doubled its capacity to manufacture PET films, bringing the total capacity to around 55,000 tpa. These PET films are used for packaging of essential goods like snacks & foods and personal care products like soaps and shampoos. It is also being integrated backward into resin plant meant for captive consumption.

At SRF, the effort to upgrade and modernise its manufacturing facilities continues. Modernisation of belting fabrics, a by-product processing unit at Chemical Complex in Gujarat and Debottlenecking of HFC plant and upgradation of utilities in Bhiwadi are some of the projects that are presently at different stages of completion.

Besides, SRF is setting up the two following major projects:

Expansion of Coated Fabrics - The board has approved a capex proposal to enhance the capacity of Coated Fabrics by 170 lakh square metre per annum at SRF's existing plant location in Gummidipoondi at a total investment of approximately Rs. 143 crore. The new facility when completed will enable SRF to offer new products such as lacquered tarpaulins and fabrics for tensile structures and awnings as well as Poly Urethane (PU) Coated Fabrics which are emerging applications in India.

Multi-purpose Chemical Complex - SRF is currently in the midst of setting up a chemical complex at Dahej in Gujarat. The plant that is driven by R&D on commissioning will produce around 20,000 tonnes of a chemical product. The project that got approved in April 2010 is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2012.