French glass-maker Saint-Gobain has begun producing low-carbon glass for India, made at its world glass complex near Chennai. The company claims its new product has 40 percent lesser carbon content than regular glass thanks largely to two-thirds of its raw material being recycled. Saint-Gobain's plant in Chennai has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day, which can now be utilised towards producing low-carbon glass.

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"Our India business is nearly 12,000 crores for all Saint-Gobain products, and nearly 98 percent of the glass that we sell in India is made here," said AR Unnikrishnan, Managing Director (Glass Business) at Saint-Gobain India.

He added that the market for low-carbon glass was a fledgling one given that Indian real estate doesn't use too many low-carbon products at present, its sustainability goals notwithstanding.

Incidentally, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) and Saint-Gobain aim to be fully carbon neutral by 2050, 20 years ahead of the Indian Government's target of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.

In simple terms, low-carbon glass is produced mainly by recycling broken glass shards into a new product. Saint-Gobain says the manufacturing process is highly sustainable too, involving renewable energy and rain-water harvesting — factors that matter while manufacturing a low-carbon product.

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'Will invest more in Tamil Nadu'

Over the years, Saint-Gobain has made Sriperumbudur its home, thanks to its multiple investments in the company's World Glass Complex in the town located near Chennai.

Last year, it announced an additional investment of Rs 500 crore towards setting up a float-glass plant and a few more capacities, which brought its cumulative investment in its plant to Rs 3,750 crore.

According to Unnikrishnan, there may be more investments in the pipeline. "We will be investing more in our manufacturing footprint in Tamil Nadu and are in talks with the State Government surrounding these investments," he said, without divulging the exact quantum of investment as discussions with the state were ongoing. "We see opportunities in investing in glass, plasterboard, glass fibering, and solar glass manufacturing," he added.

Educated manpower, port proximity and the state's policy continuity are key factors that Saint-Gobain says contribute to Tamil Nadu's investment climate. "Tamil Nadu not being part of the national gas grid is perhaps the only challenge that requires correction," said Unnikrishnan.

Saint-Gobain is presently focusing on giving its consumer business, 'My Home', a shot in the arm, thanks to focused R&D efforts to make specific products for the Indian market.

"We are focusing on making solutions for the young generation and new homemakers — these include windows, LED mirrors and a few others for the Indian consumer," said Unnikrishnan, "At present, our B2B glass business accounts for 80 to 90 percent of our revenues in glass, but we expect contribution from our consumer business to increase."

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First Published:Jun 6, 2023 6:42 PM IST